Yu-Gi-Oh! Guardians
by Diabolic Tracer
Summary: Arata has always been just a normal teenager with normal teenager problems. But one day he meets a girl who looks like an angel. Unknown to the boy, this fateful encounter had a larger meaning than he would believe is possible. Soon after that Arata's life changes, he makes a deal with the Devil and a world unknown to humanity appears before him.
1. Before it Began

**Author Note: Hey people! It's ShadowFire again!**

 **As some of you may know, once in the past I have made a story with the same name. But because of lack of interest and inability to come up with content I simply choose detele it and act like such a story never existed.**

 **However, around a month ago I got new ideas about the story and chose to try and reboot it, make it into something better. So after almost a month the storyline and characters were completely rebooted.**

 **So, now about the story itself; it takes place in the future world close to ours. With Konami being the creators of the game and all, but the difference is that Solid Vision has been developed and is used in the game. Duel Spirits and supernatural powers also exist.**

 **Also, before we get started I want to warn your that this story uses Original Summoning Methods, Card Properties and other mechanics that don't actually exist in the game or anime. So if you don't like such things, just don't read it.**

 **And now without further ado...**

 **Let's the Story start!**

* * *

A brown haired boy sat in his desk, staring out the window. His violet eyes were staring at the blue sky and his mind was wandering. He paid no attention to the lesson being held while tapping the desk with his pen. The boy was 16 years old and his height was 5 foot 8. The boy was wearing the school uniform that consisted of a blue closed jacket over a simple white shirt and black jeans. The only thing that differs him from the rest was a golden pendant left for him from his mother.

"Arata, are you paying attention?"

The voice of a man brought the boy out of his thoughts. He turned to look at the teacher. He was holding an open book, labeled "Math".

The teacher's words have redirected the attention to the entire class at the boy.

"This will be in the test so you should pay attention." The man told him.

"Yeah, yeah. I already know that." Arata said with a dismissive wave.

The ringing of a bell echoed through the hallway, signaling that the class has ended. The man closed the book in his hands and walked out.

Arata put his pen and notebook in the bag and processed to leave when a boy approached him.

The boy had long blue hair tied into a ponytail. His school uniform was letting out a vibe of carelessness as the jacket was opened to reveal the pale green shirt underneath. That was Arata's best friend and classmate – Richard.

"You got plans for tonight." Richard said handing a piece of paper to Arata and whispered to his ear. "The cops are sniffing around so be careful. The new address is on the paper. Remembered it and then destroy the paper."

"Yeah, yeah. I already know how that works." Arata said putting the paper in his pocket. It has been almost a year since he joined in this business. For so much time he has learned some important things, like how to not get caught by the cops and how to get rid of evidences. Both of those skills have saved him from prison many times.

The two boys took their bags and made their way out of the classroom.

They now walked down the hallway. Even thought it was just Wednesday most of the students have rushed out of school with the boys being ones of the last to leave the building.

"So you won't be coming with me this time?" Arata asked crossing his arms behind his head. Richard was the one who got him started with his job and since then they would always go there together.

"I don't have a match tonight." Richard answered while writing a message to someone with his phone. "But you should be careful. I heard that Zayne wanted to fight with you again. He has been doing arrangements with the organizers and even paid them just for that."

"You are saying that I have to prepare myself for a fixed match?" Arata asked thought he wasn't really surprised. In fact, before Arata came into the picture the name Zayne Borges used to be popular among the Underground. He has been known as a very weighty kid with connections.

That's until one day he was paired to fight against Arata and lost the match in the most humiliating way possible. From there on, Zayne swore to get revenge and never stopped bugging his so called rival.

"I don't think he would do that." Richard answered while chatting on the phone. "Even that crybaby has enough dignity to fight you fairly. After all, if rumors spread out that he has been buying his matches it would hurt his reputation harder than a lost."

"You have a point there."

The two made their way to the empty entrance and waved each other goodbye. From here on the two friends took their separate ways.

Without any company Arata was left to roam the mostly empty streets on his own. The reason for that was because at this time of the day people were still at work. The only companion that Arata had right now was the sound of the wind.

In around fifteen minutes the boy reached his destination, a two story house. Arata unlocked the door and walked inside. He took off his shoes and threw his bag on the ground next to them.

"I'm home!" Arata shouted.

The only response he got was the silence that was reigning over the house. Arata hasn't been expecting anything else. This was the same response he got and yesterday, and the day before that, and in Monday. The week before that. The month before that. Nobody was there to greet him. To ask him how his day was. Nobody was there to listen to his problems and achievements. To tell him that things will get better, to praise him.

From who could Arata expect such attention anyway? His mother has died shortly after his birth, so he didn't even have any memories of her. The only thing that remained for him to look after were the pictures of a woman with long red hair and the same violet eyes as his.

His father was an adventurer of some sort. Because of that he was absent for the most time. Actually, because of his job Arata's father has started living in another country and would come to visit his son once every eight or ten months for a week or less before going to another expedition. The only thing that reminded Arata that he has a father were the money that he was sending him.

Then, there was his aunt. She was the younger sister of his mother and the only other remaining family that the boy had as well as his legal guardian. Thought that didn't mean much since just like with his father his aunt was often away due to business. Because of the complete lack of parents Arata had learned how take care of himself from a young age.

He walked into the living room. The room was of average size, the floor covered by a carpet, a table in the middle of the room with a TV remote and a vase full of white roses on it, a TV screen on the wall with a bookcase on each side of it, a big window with a curtain over it stopping any light from passing through.

Arata walked to the couch opposing the TV screen in the other end of the room and fell on it. Crossing his right leg over the left one and putting his arms behind his head the boy closed his eyes. The only plans he had for today was the fight. Problem was that there were seven whole hours to cover until then. And Arata had absolutely no idea what would to do with so much time. The usual actions, watching YouTube videos and playing games, have gotten boring. Of course he could hang out with friends, but reality is that he doesn't know anyone expect Richard who seems to have problems on his own right now, so this options was out too.

Just as Arata was wondering what to do, the doorbell rang. He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds before deciding to sit up. The doorbell then rang again, reminding the teen about its existence.

The annoying sound has started to give Arata a headache, remind him what exactly his day was missing. The boy remembered that he wasn't able to have a good sleep in days. Because of that his head was hurting like it's about to explode. The lack of sleep has also leaded to him forgetting things and was probably the reason why he had such a bad time keeping his focus this week.

Soon the doorbell rang again. Already irritated, the boy got up and walked toward the door. Arrata put his hand on the door knob and opened the door.

In front of him was standing a man, a courier to be more specific. He was an old man without much of a hair, a big moustache covering most of his mouth; his clothes consist of a grey full body uniform, a cap in the same color and brown boots. There was a large cardboard box next to the man. It didn't take Arata too long to understand what is going on. There was only one person in the world that could send him a package.

As an adventurer his father loved exploring places that are said to be associated with ancient magic and fairy tales. He also had the troublesome hobby of collecting antique objects, so he sends Arata some that he had found in his adventures every once in a while. Those objects would stay in the house until his father come home and make a deal, selling them to some famous museum.

"You father sends you something again. Thankfully it isn't a statue." the courier told him jokily.

"Yeah." The boy answered unamused by the joke. "It's probably another weird thing. Where must I sign?"

"Here. Thank you! Phew, knowing your father I expected something heavy, but strangely it's actually light. So, may I ask what this thing is?"

"You guess is as good as mine. The old man never tells me anything beforehand. " Arata answered and took the box. It wasn't exactly light, but surely it wasn't made from rocks or something other heavy material.

Arata brought the box into the house and set it next to a wall. Then he walked back to the couch. He took out his phone and set the alarm to wake him up after a six hours. After that Arata feel face-down on the couch, feeling completely exhausted. After all he needed to rest well if he wanted to do his absolutely best tonight and win.

* * *

The six hours of rest felt just like a moment. The night has come and the moonlight was now shining over the city. Arata walked around with hands in the pocket of his pants and eyes looking around restlessly. He wasn't wearing his school uniform anymore; his new outfit consisted of a black jacket over the same white shirt, blue pants and black sneakers.

Arata walked into one of the city's many alley. It was right behind an old factory with the street lamps shinning dimly, just enough for Arata to avoid walking into a wall. From what he could make out the building seemed to have been abandoned for many years; there wasn't a single unbroken window and on places the bricks used to build it were visible. The place was unnerving for Arata. He could feel a cold and uninviting vibe coming from the building.

Then he reached his destination; a heavy metal door rusted from the time with a single lamp shinning on it. And next to it was a man smoking a cigarette. He was 6 foot 2 tall with wavy black hair and brown eyes, wearing a simple blue t-shirt and black jeans. His name was Gudo, the man who first got Arata started in this business.

"Hey! Arata my boy!" Gudo shouted happily and ran toward Arata. He put his arm around the boy's shoulder and started laughing.

"You came earlier today." Gudo commented as the two walked together. "Are you so impatient to duel?"

Arata didn't answer the question. It has been already a year and half since they meet, but Arata is still feeling just as uneasy around Gudo as when Richard first introduced him to the man. Was it because he was a criminal or maybe it was due to that smile on his face that didn't match the sinister look in his eyes? Arata didn't know, but was sure that the less time he spent around Gudo the better for him.

As soon as the two walked into the factory Arata could already head the loud voices of the crowd that has gathered inside. Some of the cries were pleased while others were filled with curses. Pushing through the crowd the two made it in front of a large cell with iron bars.

Inside the cell were two men. Each of them having snapped to their left arm a disk with an arm blade attached to it. One of them took a card from his hand and put it on the blade. A large humanoid bird appeared on the field wearing a white vest and holding a bow in its hands. Soon a bar showed next to the creature 'Shinobird Kannagizuru [Wind/Level 4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500]'.

That was Yu-Gi-Oh! A very famous card game. It has been famous even since it came out, but the real hype for the duelists started when Solid Vision was developed. Konami started producing duel disks which were able to bring the monsters to life. After this the history off dueling has completely changed. From there on game continued to evolve and with the time many of the mechanics changed and new were added.

The various companies that were brought later one left their own marks on the game as well in the form of their own summoning and other additional mechanics. This not leaded to Ritual, Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum become just a small part of the various summoning methods that became available, but due to those changes the decks and archetypes released from then on also gained even more off an individuality and possibilities to evolve.

The cheers of the crowd brought Arata to reality. The duel has ended and a group of men had to carry one of the duelists out of the cell. That's the reason why those duels were illegal and organized in such places, hidden from sociality.

In order to prevent real damage during a duel each duel disk had a damage setting. Due to this the duel disk used in those duels are specially modified so that real damage is applied and also increased.

"Now that's what I like to call a good duel!" Gudo shouted on a microphone inside the cell. "But things are going to only get more exciting! For all of you guys looking to make some big money this could be the luckiest day in your life!"

Arata knew that was going to happen next so he snapped the duel disk on his hand and put his deck in, the device shuffling it automatically. The boy then walked toward the cell; it was time for a show.

"On my left side is someone that I'm sure all of you are familiar with!" Gudo announced as a person stepped by his side. "Our strongest duelist who with the amazing win rate of two hundred fifty and seven victories got to be known as 'Lord of the Underground'! The one and only, Zayne Borges!"

It was a boy with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. He was standing 5 feet 9 tall; his clothes consisting of a white vest with golden lining, a grey shirt underneath, a golden belt and white loafers. His name was Zayne Borges - Arata's self-proclaimed rival.

"And now to my right! Making his way from the bottom of the dueling world, in just a year, he became an unbeatable champion! He is the only duelist know to have been able to defeat the 'Lord of the Underground'! That's right everyone! It's Arata Godbell!"

The crowd went wild as Arata walked into the cell. For the short time that he has been dueling Arata was able to get a reputation as a skilled duelist. Zayne shoot his rival a cocky smirk as if the result of the duel has already been decided.

"Which of those two duelists will the Goodness of Victory smile upon? Now is the time to make your bets and win some profit! Let's the duel begin!" Gudo shouted and walked out of the cell which was then locked up. The crowd went wild again, literally yelling their bets.

"I'm betting two thousand and six hundred on Zayne!"

"I'm betting all my money on Arata!"

"This time you are going to lose by my hand!" Zayne shouted loudly and help up his duel disk. "After I'm done here you are getting a six week trip to the hospital!"

Arata just rolled his eyes and held up his duel disk as well. Zayne was making the same threats every time the two dueled, though last time he has said eight week in the hospital.

 **『** **Zayne** **LP: 8000, Hand: 5** **(VS) Arata** **LP: 8000, Hand: 5** **』**

The two boys started at each other. On the left side was Zayne with his vicious smile. On the right was Arata with a sharp look in his eyes. He had made up his mind long time ago. Arata would get rid of this annoying rival for good.


	2. Encounter with the Unknown

**A/N: Well, can't exactly say that this is an Author Note, just to inform the readers that there has been a small mistake on my part in the last chapter and duelists start with 8000 LP like in the real game, not 4000 like in the anime. Silly me.**

* * *

"I take the first turn!" Zayne loudly yelled at Arata. "I activate Terraforming and add the Field Spell - Reckless Magic Circle to my hand!"

The duel disk automatically pop out a card from Zayne's deck. He took it and clicked a button below the screen of his duel disk. A hidden slot on the side of the blade opened and Arata put the card he added in it. The slot then closed and a little camera-lie device on top of the duel disk scanned the field. A red magical circle formed in the middle of the field and started growing and engulfed the entire cell.

"When Reckless Magic Circle is activated I can add Aleister the Eidolon Summoner to my hand!" And just like last time the duel disk automatically pop out the desired card from Zayne's deck. "Then I Normal Summon Aleister the Eidolon Summoner [Dark/Level 4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1800]!"

A hooded man appeared on the field wearing a long white and yellow vest holding a black spellbook in his right hand and a large staff that matches his clothes in the left. "Now I activate Aleister the Eidolon Summoner's effect and add Eidolon Summoning Magic to my hand!"

Arata yawned and crossed his hands. He has stopped paying attention to what his opponent was doing long time ago and now just waited for his turn to come so he could end this as soon as possible. He had far better things to do that lost another night of sleep due to some salty rich brat that has a personal problem with accepting defeat on a card game.

Zayne noticed that Arata wasn't paying any attention to the duel and clutched his fist, enraged from how his rival was clearly disrespecting him; disrespecting him and hurting his pride as a duelist at the same time by refusing to give him the attention that a duelist deserves. "I set two card and end my turn."

 **『** **Turn 2 [** **Arata** **]** **LP:** **8** **000, Hand:** **6** **』**

"It was about damn time." Arata said, giving a quick look to his hand. He was able to formulate a strategy for a potential One Turn Kill. "I will start by playing my own Field Spell - Dragonic Diagram!"

The Reckless Magic Circle that has covered the entire cell disappeared from Arata's side of the field and four new circles formed with three of them connecting together into a triangle and the fourth being in the middle of the others, lying right under Arata's feet.

"By the effect of Dragonic Diagram I can destroy a card in my hand and add a True Draco or True King card from the deck to my hand!" Arata explained putting one of his cards into the graveyard as another one pop from his deck. "Next, due to the effect of True King Bahrastos, the Fathomer who has been destroyed by the effect I Special Summon True King Agnimazud, the Vanisher [Fire/Level 9/ATK: 2900 - 3200/DEF: 1900 - 2200] directly from my deck!"

A giant red dragon-like creature covered in black armor with large angelic wings on its back appeared onto the field. Due to the small size of the cell it had to bend its body toward. The beast roared viciously, causing the crowd to start shouting and yelling excited by the appearance of the wicked creature.

"Next, I destroy True King Lithosazim, the Disaster and Majesty Maiden, the True Dracomage in my hand to Special Summon Mariamune, the True Dracophoenix [Wind/Level 9/ATK: 2700 - 3000/DEF: 2100 - 2400]!" A second beast appeared on the field, but this time its appearance was more like a bird with white feathers and six large wings.

"Now by the effect of True King Lithosazim, the Disaster who has been destroyed by a card effect I Special Summon Majesty Maiden, the True Dracomage [Wind/Level 5/ATK: 2300 - 2600/DEF: 1500 - 1800] from the Graveyard!" The third monster was a young woman with long blonde hair, yellow eyes and red dragon wings on her back. She was wearing a white vest and holding a long staff with both hands.

"Don't think I will let you!" Zayne countered clicking a button on his duel disk. "I play Solemn Strike and pay one thousand and five hundred of my life points to negate the summoning!" Majesty Maiden, the True Dracomage yelled and shrugged as her body turned grey and shattered, disappearing into the nothingness. "So you were going for a One Turn Kill huh?" Zayne asked, satisfied with how things played out.

"I enter the Battle Phase!" Arata declared. The current attack power that he had wasn't going to be enough to defeat Zayne in just one turn, but it would still take away a big piece of his life points. "True King Agnimazud, the Vanisher destroys your Aleister the Eidolon Summoner!"

The large beast moved in front of the tiny human and opened its jaws, revealing the large razor sharp teeth inside. A red glow appeared in the deep of its throat and True King Agnimazud, the Vanisher blasted the opposing it monster and even hitting Zayne who was standing behind it. The smoke from the attack cleared revealing that the boy has fallen his knees breathing heavily as his life points got reduced due to the attack.

 **『** **Zayne LP: 6500 - 4300, Hand: 2** **』**

"Next! A direct attack with Mariamune, the True Dracophoenix!" Arata ordered, ignoring the painted look of his opponent. Mariamune, the True Dracophoenix flicked its wings and the wind hit Zayne's body with the force of a rock, knocking the poor boy on his back.

 **『** **Zayne LP: 4300 - 1300, Hand: 2** **』**

"Now I overlay my two level nine monsters to Xyz Summon True King V.F.D., The Beast [Dark/Rank 9/ATK: 3000 - 3300/DEF: 3000 - 3300]!" The new monster was similar to Agnimazud, the Vanisher in appearance; the most major difference between then was the skin which is purple instead of red and had two purple orbs orbiting it. "I set a card and end my turn."

"Damn it!" Zayne cursed as he slowly got back on his feet. His face was twisted from the anger that he was feeling right now. The rage has blinded all of his senses, making him to completely forget about the pain and about the blood dripping from his forehead. "Now you did it Godbell! I WILL BEAT THE LIVING HELL OUT OF YOU!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Zayne]** **LP:** **13** **00, Hand:** **3** **』**

"You thought that getting rid of Aleister the Eidolon Summoner was a smart idea right? Well, you are wrong! I activate Eidolon Summoning Magic! By its effect I must Fusion Summon an Eidolon Beast Fusion Monster using monsters from my field and either player's Graveyard as materials! I banish my Aleister the Eidolon Summoner and your True King Bahrastos, the Fathomer to Fusion Summon Cocytus the Eidolon Beast [Water/Level 6/ATK: 1800/DEF: 2900]!"

A large blue covered in spikes dragon with ominous red eyes and a glowing version of Aleister's staff on its chest appeared on the field. "Next I activate the effect of Eidolon Summoning Magic to return Aleister back in my hand by shuffling itself into the deck!" Zayne grinned, feeling his vengeance so close. "You know what follows now right? I Summon Aleister and search the spell again, then I activate it and banish Aleister along with your True King Lithosazim, the Disaster and Fusion Summon Magallanica the Eidolon Beast [Earth/Level 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 3300]!"

This time, a loud clank came from the cell and everyone looked up. A beast made from rocks and magma easily towered over the crowd with the impressive height of 80 feet. The creature was so large and bulky that it was literally having a tropical island with a volcano on its back.

"At this moment I activate the effect of True King V.F.D., The Beast! By using one Xyz Material I can change the attribute of all your monsters to DARK and also monsters of the declared attribute cannot attack or use their effects for the rest of this turn!" True King V.F.D., The Beast smashed one of its materials with its claws and fired a black energy stream at the other monsters on the field!

"I knew that you would try something like that, you fool!" Zayne shouted back and clicked a button on his duel disk. "I activate Dimensional Barrier and declare Xyz Monsters! With this for the rest of this turn you cannot summon or activate the effects of monsters from the declared type!" The black stream disappeared and True King V.F.D., The Beast feel on the ground, feeling weakened.

Arata didn't respond. He was prepared for this and True King V.F.D., The Beast still had 3300 attack and defense, none of Zayne's monsters was strong enough to destroy it, but even if they were he still had one last trump card.

"FOCUS ON THE DUEL YOU BASTARD!" Zayne yelled and Arata look at him. "I activate Raigeki and destroy all of your monsters!" A thunder fell on True King V.F.D., The Beast, destroying it. "You are all open now! Magallanica the Eidolon Beast attack directly!"

Arata's eyes widened. The beast threw its left first toward the young duelist. If the attack collided he was going to take 3000 damage, but that didn't bother him. Actually, what was worst about taking the attack is that because the duel disks don't have the damage preventing function it was common duels to end not because a duelist lost because their life points have been reduced to 0, they were unable to draw or from another such Victory condition, but because they are unable to continue dueling. Therefor if an attack of this size and strength hit it would absolutely kill Arata.

"Is that the best you got?"

"What?" Zayne stared at Arata blankly. Was he for real? The attack has been declared, there is nothing Arata could do to stop it now. It was an inevitable death no matter how you looked at it. There was no way for Arata to turn things around; there couldn't be a way to turn things around!

"I activate Forbidden Apocrypha!" Zayne's face paled as the card appeared on the field. He then gritted his teeth. It wasn't a bluff; that bastard has done it again. He has won again.

Zayne was agonized. He has already lost count on their rematches and of which he has lost. Why? Why couldn't he win against that boy? After all the rematches and sleepless nights spent in building and rebuilding decks, it just didn't feel right for him to keep falling like this.

"By its effect I declare an Extra Deck monster card type. And if there are two or more monsters of that type on the field he have to destroy all monsters we control that type. Of course, I choose Fusion Monsters."

Magallanica's first froze in mind air. Cracking sounds started to echo through the place and the crowd noticed the small cracks forming on Magallanica and Cocytus. The cracks started to increase their number and grow bigger until the two monsters were completely covered in them. Then, just like glass, the beasts shattered to pieces and disappeared from the field.

"Ha!" An empty laugh escaped Zayne's lips and he fell on his knees, looking at the ground. "Damn it." He mumbled to himself and look at Arata. "DAMN YOU GODBELL! FUCK YOU ARE YOUR SHITTY LUCK!"

Arata looked ominously at his opponent and slowly drew his card. What a crybaby, losing his cold the moment things turn against him. Didn't he say that in this duel Arata will lost so badly that he will end in a hospital? And now the mighty has fallen again, cursing and yelling in protest; he didn't want to accept that Arata had more skills that him. But what could Zayne now? No matter how much he whine, it won't change the fact that his rival has won the battle, again.

 **『** **Turn 4 [** **Arata** **]** **LP:** **8** **000, Hand:** **2** **』**

"I activate the effect of Dragonic Diagram to destroy Mariamune, the True Dracophoenix in my hand and add another True Draco or True King card from the deck to my hand! Now by the effect of my destroyed monster I can search another monster from my deck." Yes, perfect! All pieces have been gathered. He won't just defeat Zayne. No, he will hurt him. The best way to make others respect you is to make them fear you. If they are afraid, they won't dare to stand against you.

"I activate the Continuous Spell - True Draco Succession and then tribute it to Tribute Summon Dynamite Knuckle, the True Dracofighter [Water/Level 6/ATK: 2500 - 2800/DEF: 2100 - 2400]!" A large figure formed in front of Arata wearing a heavy green armored suit with dragon wings on the back of it. "Direct attack!"

The warrior charge toward and started rapidly striking Zayne with his heavy fists. His pushes were concentrated on the vital parts like the stomach, the shoulders, and the chest. Zayne couldn't even muster the strength to scream as drops of his blood flew in all directions.

Then came and the final strike; right under the jaw. The strength of the impact throwing Zayne into the air. Oh, but that wasn't the end of the suffering. Though the ceiling of the cell has been completely destroyed the walls remained steady and Zayne was thrown toward one of them. And that's when the true pain started.

The cells in which duelists had to fight were specially designed to send electricity when touched, making the duels more dangerous while and also making sure that the duelists won't try to escape in the middle of a duel. But Arata found another way to use that devilish invention; a far more cruel application that it was originally meant for.

Shock and terror shot through Zayne's body; everything that his brain could process was the horrible pain. His body convulsed into spasms as the situation got worse. He wanted to scream but couldn't find the voice to do so. The horrible torture lasted only three seconds since the cell was designed to stop the electricity after that period, but for Zayne it felt like an eternity. His body gave up and he fell on the ground, unmoving.

 **『** **Zayne LP: 1300 - 0, Hand: 1** **』**

The door of the cell opened and Gudo ran inside along with two other men. They ran to Zayne and put a hand on his neck to check for a pulse. After a moment one of them looked up, giving a nod of affirmation to everyone; Zayne has just lost conscious from the pain. Gudo walked to Arata and grabbed his wrist, raising it as high as he can. "Arata wins!"

And with that it ended, Arata's job is done; Now Gudo just have to give him the money and the two can go their separate ways until the next duel.

"That was magnificent! You proved again that the money I put on you weren't a waste!" Gudo continued to praise Arata while made their way out of the cell and walked away from the crowd, until the two reached the door from where they came. Then Arata turned back and stretched out his hand. He hasn't forgotten the reason why he participates in those duels and was now waiting for the promised profit.

"The deal." Arata answered simply.

"Straight toward like always." Gudo said putting a hand into his pocket and taking out a small clipped pill of money. "Your earning for tonight, I will also need to get a new 'dueling arena' so don't expect any assignments for the rest of the week."

"There is more." Arata stated and looked at Gudo; the money he got were 3000 dollars rather than the regular 2500. He already knew from experience that this man wasn't generous and if he's giving more that promised then he surely wants something in return. But Arata wasn't naïve, he didn't need the money that much as to put up with Gudo's tricks and deals.

"I know that." Gudo answered with a smile. "I'm not raising your payment or anything of that sort. Take that as a reward for the beautiful finishing move. The audience absolutely loved it."

Arata put the money in his pocket. That reason sounded realistic enough to be true; after all, he has been among them for more than a year already. For this time Arata came to noticed that the only thing which makes people happier than winning money from the gabling duels is witnessing a brutal duel. The worst are the injuries, the more blood is spilled; the more they would enjoy it.

If you cannot win, then go down with a bang; that's what Arata learned from the duels here.

The two coworkers gave their farewells and the boy was once again roaming though the dark streets of the sleeping city on his own. He closed his jacket and hide his hands into the pockets; desperately trying to hide his skin from the coldness of the night. If he knew that it would so cold outside at around 10 P.M. then he would have taken a warmer jacket.

The lights coming from the windows of the houses around were the ones to illuminate his way back home. There were no starts in the sky and the moon was hidden behind black clouds. The appearance of the night sky has changed into a black void that wanted to swallow the sinister city below it. Arata continued to walk, passing around bars, restaurants and groups of friends that have gathered together and having a happy time; none of them was affected by the coldness or the darkness creeping through the shadows.

But Arata refused to think about such trivial things and continued on his way; ignoring the smiling and laughing people that passed around him. Walking and walking, the boy paid no attention to the world around him. Now he just wanted to get home, take a hot shower and go to bed; that was the only thing that mattered in his life anyway.

Soon the house appeared in his sight. He stopped in front of the door and took the key from inside the pocket. But something interesting caught his attention; the door was unlocked. Strange, because he has made sure that it was locked when he left. The lock didn't seem to have been broken, so the remaining and most logical guess is that someone has unlocked it since there are three keys in total for the house. One in him, one in his father and one for his aunt.

His father was already out of the available options because he barely comes home. His aunt on the other side visits Arata frequently, but only during the weekends. She was working in a big company and naturally with that was a very busy person. In fact, her visits during the weekends were miracles by themselves since there were a lot of times when she couldn't afford the time to visit her only nephew.

Grabbing the knob with both hands, Arata slowly opened the door, not wanting to alert the intruder and give them the chance to escape. He tiptoed inside the house, everything seemed just like he left it, expect that the lights in the kitchen were turned on. Arata stretched his hand, grabbing one of the two umbrellas in the holder beside the door; it never hurts to be extra cautious in such situations.

Gripping hard on his improvised weapon with both hands Arata tiptoed to the kitchen. A rustling sound came from inside the room followed by steps and then the sound of opening the refrigerator. Arata had to hide the urge to chuckle at the tough of what face the burglar is probably doing when they find that there is almost no food left. He shook his head; now wasn't the time to think of such things.

Arata took a deep breath; bracing himself. Feeling ready, he kicked the door open and stormed into the kitchen, ready to beat the hell out from whoever thought it was a good idea to sneak up in his house. Then, Arata's eyes widened and he froze on the spot where he was standing; his body and mind were stuck in awe from the beautiful standing before him. His mind stopped working. The only thought in his mind right now was how beautiful and perfect she was; just like an angel who has come from the heavens.

The girl was 5 feet 5. She was wearing a simply white singlet, pink shorts and pink sneakers with flower designs on either side of them and with white soles. On her left wrist was a single banded bracelet with a wing-shaped design with a yellow, diamond-shaped jewel. But the outfit didn't stuck Arata as much as her appearance did.

She had short yellowish white hair, stretching down from the back to halfway of her neck, and in the front, it was reaching just a few centimeters above her brows. Then was her skin; flawless and milky white skin in color. Next were the deep and enchanting amber eyes which radiated brightly and made Arata think that if he looked at them for too long he would get lost in them.

The girl looked at him. Her face was lacking any trace of sensitivity and emotions, as if she was an expensive doll rather than a human. Her eyes were lacking a spark of life as well and appeared like she was looking through him; able to see his soul and hear his thoughts. Although her emotionless appearance Arata could feel a vibe of grace and strong will coming from her. He didn't know what to do, what to say; he felt something that he hasn't felt before in his entire life. It was like the being behind him was not a human, but something completely different; a divine being that stood higher than him, the mere mortal.

And so the two started at each other, for what felt like hours for Arata, but was actually just a few seconds. Then, the girl's lips parted just a little bit and with a faint voice that sounded like the sweetest melody for the boy in front of her, she spoke.

"Welcome home."


	3. Who, from Where And Why?

The two strangers keep starting at each other, neither of them daring to move or talk to the other. While the girl was keeping her cold and waited the boy to talk first Arata was sweating nervously while retracing the events just now to figure out how this error, this awkward atmosphere came about. Actually, the answer was pretty simple. It was due to that girl which has appeared out of nowhere and was trying to steal food from his house!

Really, for the first time in his life Arata didn't knew how to respond to the situation he was faced with; something that really hurt his pride since he could deal with living alone since he was a little child, but he couldn't take care of a food thief. Absolutely ridiculous!

But no matter how hard Arata tried he couldn't hide the fact that he was feeling extremely uneasy right now. It was because of how the girl was looking at him, piercing through him while keeping a completely emotion-less expression on her face. This look that was more suitable for an inanimate object, like a doll, rather than a human was sending shivers down his spine.

And then a low grow broke the extremely awkward silence that was forming around the two teens. Arata snapped out of his trance and looked at the source of the sound. The girl lowered her head as well and gave an explanation.

"I couldn't find anything to eat." Just like with her expression, her voice was lacking any traces of emotion in it.

"Just who the hell are you?" Arata finally asked the question that was stuck in his throat for so long. "Trespassing and stealing are serious accusations, you know? I'm going to call the police right now!"

The girl titled her head at the side to express her confusion toward the accusations that the boy was throwing at her. Arata noticed this and face palmed. Did that girl had no common sense or something? Were her parents teaching her when she was small how to enter other peoples' homes and steal from them? Because if that's the case her family must be worst that his.

"It's stealing only if you take something that originally belongs to someone else without a permission." The girl told him matter-of-factly. "But I since we are living together in this house I thought that everything in it is shared."

"Living together?" Ok, now it was official. Arata was about to lose his fucking mind. Just who does that woman think she is? As far as he was familiar with the family tree he had no other than his father and aunt, unless his father had…

"That's right." The girl nodded confirming that they are going to be roommates from now on. "Haven't you father told you already?"

Arata took a deep breath and put the umbrella that he was holding, on the ground. After all he had armed himself with it to deal with a thief and it turns out that it was just his roommate who he didn't know about. Arata took one of the chairs that was standing next to the table and sat on it, covering his face with both hands. That man… he has done it again!

His father has never showed to care about him in the slightest, like he didn't exist. Only when something had to be done and that old man was too lazy to do it himself; only then he remembered that Arata exists and sends his troubles to the boy like he was the one who had to deal with them.

"So that is how it was…" Arata mumbled, a small smile forming on his face. Until now his father was satisfied with sending him statues to take care off, but now he moved to living humans. That was a big progress in their bond. But there was one thing that Arata wanted to be sure about. "If that's the case then just to be sure about something I want to ask… You aren't my half-sister, right?"

"No."

The girl answered shaking her head and Arata smiled at her action. She was acting just like a puppy.

The answer he got reassured Arata a bit. Honestly speaking, the boy always had doubts that the reason he got so little attention from his father wasn't due to his work, but because of a secret affair. Hearing that his old man was still loyal to his deceased wife made the boy a little happier.

"I have no idea what you are thinking right now, but my name is Eve. I'm the daughter of a friend of your father." The girl introduced herself with a bow while looking Arata in the eyes. "My parents wanted me to complete my education aboard so I could see the rest of the world and prepare myself for the live as an adult. You father offered them that I should stay here since it would be cheaper than in a lodgings and it's safer if there is someone I could trust."

"Now I feel like a complete idiot." Arata laughed and leaned against the chair. "Sorry if what I said sounded weird, but I and my father aren't in a very good relationship. I would be very happy if he phoned me to tell me about his crazy plans before putting them in motion."

"Actually, he gave me a letter for you." Eve said pulling out a piece paper from the back-pocket of her shorts and hanging it to Arata.

The boy raised an eyebrow, but eventually took it and unfolded the letter.

' _Arata, I know that this probably comes out of nowhere for you. Yes, I admit that I'm a bad parent, actually, scrap that, I'm probably the worst father in history. I haven't been able to be there for you when you needed me; actually, I'm thankful to God that no harm has come to you_ _._ _I know, t_ _here are moments in the life of every child when_ _they want their parents to be with them and that I failed miserable to do even that. Even I can't tell when your last Birthday and Christmas that we spent together was. I can't expect from you to forgive me, or to understand me. You probably have many questions that you want to ask me and you will when we met again. But until then I trust you to look after Eve. And don't worry, I have already transferred some more cash to buy things that would be needed. I believe that you will success with the task I'm giving you!_

 _P.S: Happy Birthday!_ '

Arata read the letter and his eyebrow twitched at the end. His birthday was two months ago, that bastard didn't remember even that. With that thought in mind Arata crumpled the paper and threw it into the bin before turning back to look at Eve.

"Please, take a seat. Dinner will be ready in around thirty minutes." Eve nodded and brought the chair Arata was sitting on just a few moments ago close to the table before setting herself on it. The girl watched as Arata opened the fridge and took three eggs from it, then he took a large bow and a box of flour.

"I hope you don't mind having pancake for dinner but that is the only thing I can cook with what I have right now." Arata said as he poured the flour into the bow and broke the eggs in it.

"Actually, I haven't tried such food before." Eve admitted while trying to peek at what Arata was doing from her position on the table. "I have to say that I'm finding it amazing that someone your age has learned to cook."

"I particularly don't thing that this is anything impressive." Arata answered while at the same time whisking the batter. "In fact, I learned that only from watching my aunt and I'm not that good either. So you are from Japan, right?"

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?" Eve asked monotonously. Arata shook his head in response and reached out for a pan.

"Don't take me wrong, it's just, I have a hard time believing it. You speak perfect English, you are certainly from the European race and you also have a biblical name."

Eve titled her head to the side in a questioning manner. "But isn't it the same for you? European race, lives in Bulgaria, but has a Japanese name."

"I guess both of our parents have a weird idea for naming schemes." Arata smirked and looked to his left. "Anyway, I didn't see your luggage, have you decided in which room you will be staying?"

"I actually don't carry any luggage with me. Your father told me to just come here and that he would take care of the rest for me. Not that I realize it, I should probably apologize for coming in your house at this time of the day, but my fly was delayed and so,"

"I get it." Arata raised his hand and gave a trump up. Her fly has been delayed, it wasn't anything she could about it anyway; so what's the point in making her apologize if she's not at fault? It was also late in the night so she probably thought that he was sleeping and just walked into the house. "Don't apologize, it makes you sound like you have done something wrong."

"I apologize for that; it's just the way you questioned me earlier that I thought that I have done something wrong." Although it was supposed to be an apology Eve's monotone voice made it sound… insincere. Arata had to wonder from who that girl has inherited her personality from and exactly what process of upbringing resulted in this. Her parents must have been extremely strict and cautious to make her so emotionless and socially awkward.

"I'm not saying that barging into someone's home without calling or asking is good." Arata frowned and walked to the table. The boy put a plate full with pancakes in front of Eve along with a fork and chocolate spread. Arata then sat directly across from her on the table and leaned on his right hand. "Actually, you know what? Let's just forget about it."

"Thanks for the food!" Eve bowed before taking the fork and stuck it into the top pancake and then with one bite it disappeared. Arata's eyes widened as he stared blankly at the girl. What has he just witnessed? Suddenly the fabulous angel has turned into a hungry demon, fiercely attacking the innocent and unsuspecting food.

After three more pancakes disappeared like the first one Eve stopped. Putting down the fork the girl remembered that she wasn't alone and looked up at Arata who had a hard to describe expression on his face.

"My apologies, it seems I have started eating without waiting for you."

"No, continue, I'm not hungry anyway." Thought the main factor to refuse Eve's invitation was disgust Arata wasn't lying to her. It was really rare for him to have more than one meal a day; that was also the reason why the refrigerator was so empty, being filled only when his aunt came to visit.

Eve nodded in understand and raised her fork, mercilessly attacking the poor pancakes once again. Unable to bear with the disgraceful scene that was taking place in front of him, Arata stood up, took a kitchen knife and left the room.

His life was going to change that's for sure. Arata will have to be careful his roommate to not find out that he participates in the underground duels. If Eve learn about it then she will probably tell his father as well and things would go messy from there. Arata had to come up with a good excuse about why he leaves the house late during the night. Of course since there wouldn't be any more duels for the rest of the week he had more than enough time to come up with something. Everything would be ok if he play cool and don't give her any reason to doubt his words.

"Guess now is a good time to see what is inside of this." Arata sighed looking down at the cardboard box that he got from his dad today. Judging by its size which was around two feet he expected something of the sort of a weird statue, but since he had to carry it into the house the boy knew from a fact that whatever is inside it was too light to be something of that sort.

Arata used the knife cut the duct tape that keep it sealed and opened the box. Well, certainly what he found inside wasn't anything that he would expect from his father, though, it did serve as yet another proof that the old man was far more worried for strangers than him.

Clothes, all of them too small in size for Arata and more fitting for a girl like Eve. There were also some accessories like bracelets and earrings in the form of butterflies and a shampoo, nothing that a boy would be interested it. Or so Arata thought until he found two Duel Disks buried under the other things in the box. Both devices appeared to be the same as the standard model which used a headset to create holograms from the user's imagination, the only different was the customized color-scheme. One of the Duel Disks was white with yellow colored Monster Zones and the other was mostly black with purple zones for the cards.

"That was the most delicious food I have ever tasted." Eve said with her standard monotonous voice while rubbing her belly to prove the point. She has noticed that Arata was looking at the box and moved beside him. "Oh, so that's why your father asked what my measures were."

Arata moved only his eyes to stare at Eve. Any normal person would question the motives behind such a request, but from her words it seems that she never for a moment wondered what a forty-something man would need her measures for.

"But those Duel Disks, are you a Duelist?" Arata asked her in an attempt to break the awkwardness of the situation with some small chat, but he was really interested if she knew the game and if she was good at it.

"Of course I am." Eve answered folding her arms and puffing out her chest, imitating an act of showing of her pride. "I know everything about the game and in fact my deck uses one of the latest summoning methods."

"Really?" Arata's eyes widened in amazement. As awkward that girl was as long as dueling her would prove to be a true challenge he is ready to let anything awkward slide. "That's pretty cool since I'm a Duelist as well. You know, maybe we could duel sometime."

"Hmm, sound interesting enough." Eve nodded and moved closer to the box. The girl took a new set of clothes and looked back to Arata. "It has been a long journey until I came here so, um, where is the bathroom?"

"On the second floor, the last door on the left." Arata explained to her and grabbed the box with both hands. "If you want I can show you, since the guest room is on the second floor as well."

"Is that where I'm going to live?" Eve asked a bit disappointed, which surprised Arata since he hasn't seen her show any emotions until now.

"Of course, sleeping in my or my father's room would be really awkward and the guest room is the only other in the house which has a bed, unless you prefer sleeping on the ground in which case I would offer the hallway as it has much space to move." Arata said cackling at his own joke.

"Are you mocking me?" Eve asked back, somehow offended by Arata's words. The boy looked at her curious. So she was able to see right through his joke? That girl was smarter than she let out, even if her lack of social skills suggested otherwise.

Arata sighed in response and move ahead of Eve. It was just a joke anyway, nothing worth to light the fuse about. Just what's happening with that woman? Guess that emotionless expression she keeps on all the time is just a façade, a mask she used to hide how fragile she is and to protect herself from the outside world. For now that was just a speculation, but if it turned to be true then maybe he had more in common with her than he thought.

The two teens reached the second floor and Arata pointed at the second door on the right. "This there is the guest room, after that the third door is to my room, if you need something just knock. And there at the end in the left is the bathroom. I'm going to warn you that the water taps are very sensitive so be careful while using them."

"Roger that!" Eve nodded and ran into the bathroom. Arata heard a click which meant that the girl has locked the door from the inside which reassured the boy that at least she knew how to use the lock properly.

"I feel more like a babysitter than a roommate." Arata mumbled to himself and turned toward the guest room when he hear something from behind; it was a click. The boy turned around and saw as the door of the bathroom opened and Eve came out, thankfully still clothed. The small girl, since she was lower than Arata, walked toward him while looking down to avoid eye contact. Eve stopped in front of Arata and put a hand into the box he was carrying. After a few moments the girl was able to find the shampoo she needed and ran back into the bathroom, but forgot to lock it this time.

Arata blinked a few times, his brain taking that time to register what happened. The boy then shook his head and turned to the other side, a small smile forming on his face as he disappeared behind the door of the guest room. That girl will certainly give him a lot of headaches, but it will be all forth it. Because even if she annoys him the house seems more alive that it has ever been.

* * *

A figure was standing into one of the many dark and isolated alleys that the city offered for muggers and other scum of that short use to hide. The dark shadows that the buildings around them casted were covering their face, making it impossible to identify them. The figure dialed a certain number on their mobile phone and waited.

"Hmm, have you arrived at last?" The deep and rough voice of a man questioned him from the other end of the line. "You already know your objective so I don't need to waste my breath, right?"

"Yeah, because you have so much more important things to do that deal with us the inferior humans." The figure answered with an annoyed, somewhat high-pitched voice, but it was still easily to recognize that it's a male voice. "No need to get angry Mr. Wall, I already got my orders from the higher-ups: Find and bring unit five, twenty two, five back, alive."

The man practically growled at the last word. Why did they need that failure back with a beating heart anyway? They had no need of such trash to get in the way. But those were the orders of the higher-ups so he was in no position to complain about their methods and question their reasoning.

"I can catch your bloodlust even from here." The other man told him. "Better that not cause you to fail the mission or I'm going to rip open that empty skull of yours with my bare hands!"

"Kehehehe, I already knew that you would say something like that. You are soooooo boring." The figure taunted back before licking his lips. "And don't worry about my bloodlust. They said that she needs to be 'breathing' not to be in one piece. And as a bonus, I'm permitted to kill anyone who gets in my way or just happens to be with target."

The man hanged up and began to move and then a pile that stood hidden behind him became visible. Composed from three bodies whose state would make those with weak stomachs release what they have eaten beforehand. The scent of blood was everywhere and a puddle of the red liquid has formed underneath the puddle.

"Clearing the trash is so much fun~" the man singed to himself as he moved to his next target.

* * *

 **A.N: Hey guys! It has been pretty long since I last post a chapter for this, right? I know that this chapter wasn't very action filled or plot filled, but that's ok because the first part of Yu-Gi-Oh! Guardians is going to focus more on the main character, Arata and his** **personal and moral problem. But don't worry, there will still be action and duels in this story, they just won't be so frequent as in other stories I have posted. There are also some interesting new duel mechanics I came up with and it's a matter of a few chapters until they eventually debut.**

 **I want to thank to HereICome and Kingster16 for following and favoriting. Also thanks to Lspaceship for the follow.**

 **Also a response to** **Lspaceship: Zayne and Zane actually have different meanings and countries of origins, but now something funny. The original concept for Arata was his name to be Alex, but was changed because I totally forgot about that he had a planned name.**

 **There is nothing else, so Diabolic Tracer out!**


	4. First Step Toward the End

It was Friday afternoon, a day and something has passed since Eve's arrival and things were going rather smoothly. Though she didn't show it at first the girl was actually a very smart individual and her only problem was that she wasn't used to live on her own. Of course with instructions from Arata she quickly took the hang of things. Even though the girl proved that she can handle things independent, the boy still didn't feel safe enough as to let her explore the town on her own.

Because of that Arata was playing on his phone, while leaning against a wall and impatiently tapping on it with his feet. Since Eve had a shortage of clothes, just three sets of which only two were appropriately for the autumn, the two settled that after he came back from school the two would go to the mall and buy her some new outfits with the money his father has sent specially for that task. Arata didn't know what irritates him the most – the fact that his father sent a summer outfits although the winter was just a month away; or how much time it takes for Eve to get ready.

He has already changed and was waiting on the first floor although she had been home all day. Since lately it was getting colder outside Arata had chosen to wear a closed white winter jacket and pants along with black combat boots. He was already running out of patience, but kept telling himself that it was fine. It was rare for him to go outside with someone else after all. Everyone in school disliked him and always isolate him from their groups; at one point there was even a rumor that his real parents have left him and he has killed foster parents. The weird looks everyone was giving him during that time and the whispers behind him back didn't bother him at all. With or without those rumors there already was a deep chasm between him and the others students.

The reason he became a friend with Richard was because he's the only one who tried to talk with him. Though, their friendship exists only in school and the underground it was better than nothing. Arata still felt bad because yesterday he tried to talk with Richard if he wants to hang out around town, but his friend left school right after the last belt rang so he didn't have the chance to ask; and today when Arata proposed Richard to come with him and Eve he got turned down.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the silence of the house. Arata turned his head just in time to see Eve come down the stairs. Her outfit has changed to be more fitting for the season as well. Instead of a white singlet and pink shorts she now wore a black sweater with a large yellow star on the chest along with jeans.

"Sorry that I made you wait." Eve apologized while putting on her high boots.

Arata couldn't help but stare at the girl. She looked so pretty. No matter how many times he has seen her this angelic charm that she radiate would never fail to amaze him. Arata could stay alike this all day if it was that Eve turned around and looked at him with amber eyes. The boy quickly snapped out of his trace and averted his eyes.

"Let's just go already." Arata said with a strangely weak tone. _Why are you doing that, teenager hormones?_

Eve noticed her companion's strange behavior, but choose to just ignore it for now and simple nodded her head as a sign that she agrees. It was just then that the girl noticed the bag that Arata was carrying in his left hand. It made her curious about what was inside. She couldn't tell what it was but from the way it was hanging she could deduce that the load inside was something heavy.

"I hope it isn't rude to ask, but what is inside?" Eve ashed, her monotone voice doing perfect job at hiding her inner curiosity. Or so she was thinking.

"Just my Duel Disk." Arata answered raising the bag higher. "I want to get it checked for bugs and other things like that. You know, for maintenance."

"You could ask me to help instead." Eve proposed. "I'm kind of good when it comes to engineering and dealing with computers."

"I didn't know that." Arata replied back, amazed to hear that. "But mistakes can always happen, so I prefer to at least get my money back if such a thing happen."

"I must agree." Eve nodded in approval of that decision. If the disk break – even if it isn't her fault- the shop will be still able to use that as an excuse to not return the money or give a replacement.

Arata who was standing beside Even stepped toward and opened the door. The boy gestured with his hand toward the outside as he smiled at Eve. "Ladies first."

Eve complied and took the first step outside the house. Although the cold weather outside her face felt strangely warm for some reason. She didn't exactly understand it, but right now she was feeling a little embarrassed.

* * *

After about twenty minutes of walking the two teen reached reached their destination; a larger building that had giant windows and looked very futuristic. The floor and walls were snow white with marble columns supporting the ceiling and the hall was with the sizes of a football field. Eve was surprised to find the Mall busting with people. Greetings and happy smiles were passed around them as the girl turned to look at her companion. Unlike her, Arata wasn't surprised in the least to see so many people since it was Friday. The boy was wearing a black set of headphones on his ears while his face had an uninterested expression.

Arata scanned the area around them – carefully examining the many items on each showcase. There were toys and all kinds of accessories on display. Arata took his headphones off and along with Eve the two trudged around the Mall for around ten minutes until they finally found a clothing store.

The duo walked inside and without wasting any time made their way toward the woman section of the store. They found many outfits with different designs; Arata told her to choose whatever suits her tastes only to come to the realization that Eve's tastes in clothing were very slack. Therefor she had no idea of what to choose. She never had objections to what she wore as long as it wasn't uncomfortably or weird.

"Having hard time choosing?" A happy voice came from behind the two. As they turned around the duo came face to face with a smiling young woman – around 23-25 years old. "Could I probably help you?"

"Neither of us has a great taste when it comes to clothing so I wouldn't refuse an advice from someone with more experience in that area." Arata answered while nodding his head. He then gestured to Eve who was standing beside him and continued. "Since it's getting colder and she doesn't have many choices in her wardrobe we are looking for something… more suitable for the season."

"Yes, yes, I see." The clerk clicked her fingers and tugged onto Eve. The girl looked nervously back at Arata, but it was too late. Before she could open here mouth to protest against the idea, she found herself surrounded by clothing racks filled with all kinds of outfits and dresses.

"Hmm, I think this will do it." The clerk said pulling out a cloth after cloth and hanging them to a confused Eve who lied in a pile of dresses. At the same time Arata was chilling a bit far away with an amused expression on his face.

"I think that much is enough." The clerk said hanging Eve a last white jacket after which she leaded the girl toward a fitting room. "Yep! That's it. Go, try them on."

The curtain closed and Arata moved next to the clerk. It was really nice from the woman to help them with this crisis. Even if that was just a part of her job, there were a lot of clerks that would just tell them to either chose something or leave, instead of help them. Because of that he felt obliged to thank her.

"Sorry for taking your time Miss." Arata apologized, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Ah, please!" The woman laughed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Seeing how cute you two lovebirds were I just had to. There aren't many boys that would go out of their way to help their girlfriends with shopping. You two seem to be perfect match for each other, right?"

"Ahaha… Yeah…" Arata answered as he averted his gaze to the side. _That was going awkward as fuck_. "Actually we are roommates. Just roommates."

"Ohoho, so you sleep with her?" The clerk gave him a dangerous look and Arata realized that with his answer… He fucked up.

Thankfully before the conversation could turn dangerous for one of the two parties (aka Arata) the curtain opened and the two people in front of it just starred at the magnificent being that stood in front of them. Eve was wearing a pink turtleneck sweater that reached a bit above her knees like a skirt with jeans underneath and finishing off with brown, fur lined boots. Thought the clothes that she wore had a simple, the fact that the one in them was her gave a completely new shine to the outfit. Arata felt like everything that came in contact with Eve's skin becomes somewhat more sacred and more valuable. The girl looked down at herself one more time before raising her head to glance at her companion.

"What so you think?" Eve asked. She didn't have much experience when it comes to shopping, so having the opinion of a third party was very important for her.

"It… really suits you." Arata answered while slowly nodding his head.

"I will take it then."

"Didn't you choose a bit too fast!? Why don't you try something else?"

"Yes, yes, that's right!" The clerk nodded here head eagerly. "You should absolutely try the rest!"

Eve nodded and closed the curtain again. Arata sighed in relief, though it was too early to relax just yet. He screwed up a big time by saying that Eve is his roommate and sincerely hoped that the clerk won't try to interrogate him. Judging by her age and behavior so far he could deduce that the phase 'personal space' doesn't mean much for her.

Thankfully a new client came to ask for help and the clerk left him alone. Taking a deep breath Arata leaned against a shelf. _One landmine avoided, an entire minefield ahead._

* * *

After trying many other outfits, with Eve taking only the ones that Arata liked (something that the boy found strangely suspicious) the two made their way to the checkout where the same clerk was waiting with a bright smile on her face. The boy couldn't tell if that happy expression was real or false, but he didn't care either way.

"We will be taking those." Arata said putting everything that Eve has chosen on the checkout deck.

"That's some shopping you did kids." The woman exclaimed in awe staring at pile of clothes that she had to mark. It was more than what she was able to sell for the entire month.

"Can I pay with a credit card?" Arata asked pulling out his wallet. All of this would cost a lot more than the cast you would expect for a sixteen years old to carry with himself. Because of that he would prefer to not take any risks by having the money being accidentally stolen while he walks around.

"Of course." The clerk nodded her head while focusing on the pile of clothes in front of her. "The Mall also offers transport to address within the town's borders."

"Oh, that's a good thing to find out. I guess that I will only need to give my address, right?" Arata asked. Yeah, like hell he would try carrying all that, it would break his spine!

"Yes, just address along with your and name for contact." The woman answered with the same kind smile as before.

Arata nodded his head in silent agreement before giving his credit card while also getting a small document to fill up with the needed information. I took him just a moment and he gave the paper back to the clerk after which he had to input the password in the credit card terminal and done. With this most of his duties for today has been finished. All that left now was to get his Duel Disk cheeked and go back home. With this thought in his head Arata turned toward Eve who was looking around the shop, curiously. Was that her first time in such a place?

Come to think about it, she was coming from a different country with different culture and probably shops. Curiosity would be an expected reaction from anyone if they were to see something that they haven't seen before. Maybe he could show Eve around and show her the town before they head back? Not that Arata was particularly interested in doing that, but wouldn't it be rude from his side as host to just keep her locked in his house twenty-four seven? Scrap that, it's actually illegal to do such a thing!

The two teens walked out of the shop and quickly headed toward the next location. Since that wasn't the first time Arata needed to get his Duel Disk maintained he knew pretty well where all of the Card Shops in the town were. Thought he personally preferred the one on District Six due to it being closer to his home and because the owner is an old friend of his father but it was on the opposite direction from the Mall so it couldn't be helped this time.

And not too long, they reached the Card Shop, it wasn't very different from any other shops of this kind he has seen before. Many structure decks and booster packs of various card games were behind the showcase, put on display for the passers. Of course, most of those were Yu-Gi-Oh related since Konami owned most of the shops and companies. But what else could someone expect, the game's fan base practically tripled after they introduced the real Solid Vision and somehow most of the balancing problems that everyone was barking about were somehow forgotten and left in the darkness.

The duo walked inside the building and looked around. The shop had white walls with wallpapers and other such ads taped on them. It was filled with shelves of accessories of various games, card pacts and so on. The two then passed an open area in the middle of the store with three white mechanical tables that had two small screens attached to the sides and one large touch screen on top. Those were dueling tables as the staff liked to refer to them; another invention of Konami, practically a replacement of the old Duel Terminal that's also based after some online dueling sites and programs that the players used as a mean to test out new cards.

"Good day." The clerk of this place, a young man with black hair said wearing what Arata could only suspect to be another fake smile.

"Good day." Arata replied and took out the Duel Disk from the plastic bag he was holding. "I want to get my Duel Dis cheeked. There isn't any particular problem with it but I want to have it maintained just to be safe."

"Of course." The clerk nodded taking the device in his hands, carefully looking it all over. "I see, it's one of the older models. They have a simpler programming so it should be done in around half a hour."

"Thanks a lot." Arata replied and turned to his left where Eve was standing.

She wasn't there anymore.

Panicked Arata looked around the place and sighed in relief when he found the girl standing beside one of the Dueling tables, examining it with her signature poker face. Of course he was already familiar with the girl's true nature so he knew that she was curious about the device and how it works. But it wouldn't be the same for people who didn't know her so well, they would think that she was throwing mental daggers at the poor equipment. Maybe he could play one game with her, to see how good she is with the cards.

"Are you up for a duel?" Arata asked stepping beside the girl.

Eve turned her head toward the boy and just nodded with the same blank and emotionless expression as before. No matter how many times he has seen it, every time Arata looked at the girl he had the sense that he was face to face with a precious doll. In a sense that was the right description for such a being. During the most of the last two days they spent together she never moved unless he told her to and during that time showed completely no reaction except blinking. It was such a strange feeling to live with someone like that. He almost felt pity toward the girl for what must have happened to make her act this way.

The key word was almost.

"First you click the power-up button." Arata instructed as the two walked at each side of the table and clicked a button near the smaller screens on the sides and the entire machine turned to life as a menu with four options appeared on the smaller screens; those being: 'Story Mode', 'Player Mode', 'Deck List' and 'Deck Builder'.

"The cards I use aren't here." Eve noted scrolling through the list of available cards.

"Those tables get updated only once the actual cards come to sale." Arata explained putting a hand under his chin. "Since the OCG and TCG have different release dates if your deck is one of the newer ones then there is a chance that those cards haven't been added to the TCG data list yet. Well, since it wouldn't be fair if I used my own Deck while you used a different one how about we both build a new one here and play with those?"

"It sounds like a fair game." Eve nodded at the idea and turned her attention back toward the screen once again, scrolling furiously through the cards. Arata took noticed of how fast her hand was moving from the other side of the table and was caught by surprise. But after a moment his expression turned to a happy one and he turned back to his own screen.

* * *

The half hour passed like a moment for the teens. After Arata had built a Nekroz deck and Eve a Fluffal one they had five matches in total. Two of which were won by Arata while the other two went to Eve and then they choose to not finish the last one and leave it as a draw. This was the first time that both of them had found someone that could match the other's skills so they choose to leave it as a draw for that reason. So that one day they became even more skilled than now they both would have a reason to face each other once again.

After that Arata took his Duel Disk and the rest of the day went on simply with the two exploring the rest of the Mall. They played in the arcade, visited the pet shop (for reasons unknown to Arata) had an adventure when Eve got lost, thought she preferred to refer to it a game of Hide and Seek and finally Arata showed her what a hotdog truly means. Overall that was the most interesting time the boy had since he could remember. And though her face didn't show it he was sure that Eve felt the same way as him.

Currently the teens were walking down the empty streets of the town. The Sun has hidden away and it was the Moon's time to rule and caste it's celestial light over the world. There was no wind tonight and the air was warm, embracing them. There was no one else there expect Arata, Eve and the two shadows casted by the street lamps.

"So what would you say for today? Did you have fun?"

Arata who had his hands hidden in the pockets of his jacket suddenly asked, turning toward the girl walking with him. Eve who was quietly sipping on a lemonade turned her eyes toward her companion. The girl who was occupied with something else just nodded her head; even if she didn't say it you could tell that her mood had lightened up due to today. Arata let out a short laugh and put a hand on her head, stroking the doll's hair.

Then Eve stopped.

Arata did as well and looked back toward the girl, confused. It was a bit hard to notice, but Eve's eyes had widened and for the first time since her arrival Arata could read an emotion showing on her flawless face. The boy slowly lost his smile because her eyes he could read true fear. More than that it was a prophecy of despair. He looked ahead and saw what appeared to be the figured of a man glaring at them from across the streets.

This new person was taller than both of them, standing over six feet and seemed to notice the boy's confusion as he slowly stepped into the light of the street lamps. Arata couldn't make out most of his other features from this distance but he could make out that this person had messy blonde hair which was combed down. He was also wearing a black jacket and matching black cargo pants. The three stared at each other for a good minute until Arata tried walking forwards, but Eve pulled him back, squeezing his hand as she looked up at him with an almost pleading expression.

"No, don't! It's too dangerous to stay here! Please, run!" she blurted out, trying to pull the boy back.

Arata however, couldn't under what the problem was. He couldn't see any danger coming from that guy over there and was completely confused about why she was so afraid of this guy. Slowly, his eyes widened and he looked back toward the man.

One of his hands went up and into his jacket, and a moment later, it came back out with a big, shining knife. Arata froze and his skin palled. The man began walking towards them, a crazy grin growing on his face as he does so.

* * *

 **A/N: That sudden change of tone at the end of the chapter caught you by surprise, didn't it?**

 **Anyway, thanks to everyone for the favoriting and following. Also, if you liked this chapter, or the story in general, leave a fav/follow/review. Also constructive criticism is very welcome!**

 **Since I don't know how to make this A.N. interesting or bombastic I will leave it as it is!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	5. Darkness My Friend

**I swear this is still a YGO fanfic with YGO Duel and so on!**

 **Warning: The following chapter contains violence and gore.**

* * *

Darkness reigned over the world once again, as underneath the looming moonlight two figures ran through the empty streets of the once lively city. There was nothing but deadly silence lingering in the air as if the town itself was turning a blind eye to their plight. They had no time to look back, but the hunter was there, slowly, following his prey with a malevolent smile. As if trapped in a nightmare, no matter how fast the teens were running, they couldn't lose the killer.

Finally they reached a park and had to stop. Arata's stamina was at its limits, his face was pale, he looked as if he was about to collapse any moment by now. The boy cursed himself mentally, why did he left his phone when they left the house?! Well, since he didn't have many friends there wasn't anyone that would call him. Who could even expect that they would need to call the cops because someone with a knife also so happens to look like a murder is following them anyway? Certainly not him.

Taking a few deep breaths Arata raised his head and looked behind. There was no one there. Arata took another breath of relief, after so long they finally lost that crazy fucker, but he was still somewhere out there looking for them. What exactly did that man wanted? Arata didn't know, but he wasn't going to stand here and wait for the murder to find them again. Problem was how they were supposed to hide from that fucker, he was able to catch up with them by just walking slowly the entire time. If that psycho was trying seriously he would probably have killed them many times by now.

But then what was the point in running from him 'till now?

"He is going to show up again soon. We need to resume fleeing!" Eve said with her monotone voice while pulling on Arata's arm. "Hurry up! He is going to come back!"

Arata looked back at Eve, confused by her statement. How did she knew that this man is still following them? Come to think about it, she was able to recognize the man's intentions long before he pulled out his knife. Her reaction was too quick back then. It was as if she knew who the man was and what he was about to do. Why Eve's parents sent their daughters all the way from Japan? She said that it was because her parents wanted her to study aboard, but that now sounded like a very bad lie.

"No, I want you to tell me the truth." Arata insisted pulling his arm away from the girl's. "You didn't came in this country to study, right? When you first saw that man you seemed to know him. You told me that he was dangerous before seeing the knife! That was a fast judge of a stranger you have never meet before, don't you think?"

"I don't know anything, so let's hurry!" Eve shouted and tried to pull Arata once again. This time forever the boy slapped her hand away, causing the girl to recoil back.

"There is definitely something going on between you and that man!" Arata yelled and clenched his right hand into a fist. "I trusted you Eve! Do the same thing for once and tell me something that isn't a lie!"

Arata let the girl to live in his house because that was his father's wish, not because he liked to help people in need. No matter what Eve did or said in those past three days he never questioned her and let the girl to be. But this right now was too much for him to turn a blind eye on. To let Eve keep living in the house from now on would be too dangerous for Arata's own safety. But there must be a reason why his father sent the girl to him - his only son – so he would bear with it. However, what Arata couldn't put up with are obvious lies and fakes. He had enough of that for one lifetime, If Eve needed help she just had to explain herself and not deceive him.

Eve sighed in defeat and looked Arata in the eyes. "The man's name is Saivar Ariusson. He is a professional killer who was sent to take me back. Do you trust me now? I swear, I'm going to tell you everything once we get somewhere safe."

Well, after learning that Arata couldn't ask why she didn't explain all of this from the beginning, could he? Telling someone that a murder is after you would quickly kill any chances of having a normal social life. Friends of his father or not, even Arata would kick anyone out of his house after learning something like this.

Then why does he accept Eve and her problems? It was clearly a dangerous stuff that he was getting himself into. There was no certainty that this won't cost him his life, yet here he is, helping a girl that should mean nothing to him. Maybe you could put it as his payback to her for being his friend. Even if it was all just an act to get his trust, the girl stood with him and put an end of his empty everyday life.

Doing such a dangerous thing for a pathetic reason like that, he must have gone mad. Talk about irony; Arata, the boy that all other kids at school disliked and even labeled a killer was risking his life to safe a girl he has no relation to.

"That's good enough for me." Arata replied and took a step toward. He pointed at the distance and spoke again. "I know this park quite well, if we head to the north exit there is a roundabout way to our house. This way we will also avoid the chance of bumping into that crazy fucker again."

"Thanks." Eve said with her monotone voice and put her hand on Arata's. The boy looked at her quite surprised; that's the first time someone thanked him for something instead of cursing or ignoring him. He quickly regained his composure and took Eve's hand into his own. The two then turned toward the path they had chosen and were about to make the first step when suddenly Arata came to a halt. Something here wasn't right. Eve turned her head toward the boy and quickly withdrew her hand from his.

None of them knew how this happened but after a moment of complete silence between the two Arata dropped face first on the ground with two knifes stuck in his back. Eve took a step away from the body and looked around. He was there all along. The man was with them from the start, hiding in the shadows and waiting for a good moment to strike. But now that his presence was known, there was no point in those games anymore.

The man appeared from behind a tree, making sure that Eve could see him. He seemed to be in his early thirties, his blue eyes were looking the girl up and down as he licked his lips in anticipation of what was going to happen now that they have come face to face. Judging by their expressions it was hard to say which one was the predator. Both of them were emitting an equally strong killing intent and it was a miracle that they weren't on each other's throat by now.

The man put a hand into his jacket and pulled another knife from within it. Eve prepared herself for another attack, but it never came, instead the murder threw the knife into the air and caught it between his index and middle fingers. He wasn't going to fight her, not yet.

"You should have been able to sense my presence. Have your senses gotten dull so fast?" The man said mockingly and threw the blade into the air again. "It's not a surprise though, you are just a defect after all."

There was no reply from Eve's side. She didn't pay attention to what the man was telling her and just looked down at the fallen boy in front of her. Arata wasn't dead yet, though thing would have been easier if he was. The reason why Eve insisted of them running from the man until now wasn't because she was afraid of facing him, but because of her promise to try and protect her savior's son as much as she could. Of course, judging by the boy's current condition she had completely failed in the task of keeping his safe and out of danger. Well, what was someone to expect from someone trained in killing people rather that protecting them, right?

Eve then looked at the man again. "I'm not going to come with you, Saivar."

"Oh, so you remember my name." The man, or rather Saivar, said and stopped playing with his knife. He licked his lips again and grinned. "That's the response I wanted to hear. None of those dolls dares to say such a thing and they don't even beg for their lives, so it was pretty boring killing them. But you are different, so I expect this to be more interesting."

Without waiting for an answer Saivar threw his knife toward Eve, with the speed of a bullet the projectile flew toward the girl's neck to take her life. That was far from enough. Eve sidestepped in the blink of an eye and caused the projectile to completely miss its target. Her eyes moved to the bag that Arata has been carrying with himself. She quickly reached out to grab it, but before she could do it another knife came flying toward her head. Eve didn't have enough time to both arm herself and dodge the projectile so she rolled to the side and glared at Saivar.

The man chuckled and pulled another two knifes from within his jacket, which were much larger than the previous ones and looked more like machetes. Saivar rushed toward Eve, he didn't want to waste his time fighting someone that's not worth his time so the last two attacks were just to test her reflects while this was his first real attack. As the distance between the two shortened enough the man swung his right machete, aiming for her arm this time. Since all of his attacks till now were aimed for the head that was a move that no one would predict. But there was someone who did. Eve not only leaned to the side, dodging the attack, but she also threw a kick aimed for his head. It was an attack that would cause some serious damage.

Saivar's reaction was astounding. He quickly ducked under the strike and took a step back, creating some distance between him and Eve. The girl did the same, but unlike the man she didn't bother in taking a battle stance. She stood there and waited for her opponent's next move. Saivar leaned toward, ready to rush in again, but was stopped. A hand grabbed onto his leg and pulled him back from attacking. Eve noticed that and quickly realized a big mistake she had done -she had moved to far away from where Arata's wounded body was.

Saivar made an unpleasant face and looked down at the boy, who was trying to hold him back. Arata looked up at him as well and the two locked eyes for a moment. He should have played dead instead of trying to play a shitty hero and the boy knew it, but he couldn't let this man kill Eve.

"L-leave her…" Arata's voice was low and weak, but also insistent. Saivar replied with a low chuckle before raising one of his machetes. He was death. The truth hit Arata way too fast. He shouldn't have tried to intervene, but he did, and now was going to pay the price for that. The dark blade flew toward his head and no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't think of a way for this to end well.

Splasssssh!

A knife cut through human's flesh and splattered blood. An inhuman scream filled the silent air and broke the serenity of the night. Arata tried to bury his head into the ground and hot tears feel from his good eye while he held the bleeding right side of his face with a hand. Eve couldn't bear watching this scene and turned her head to the side. The one she was supposed to protect was sacrificing his life for her and she did nothing to try and prevent that.

"You are trying to play a hero, kid?" Saivar asked with a taunting voice and grabbed a handful of Arata's hair, forcing him to get up on his knees. The boy bite his lower lip to stop the screams that struggled to come to the surface. The pain in his back and the right side of his face were too much for the boy to handle, but he still tried to stay strong under the suffering. His mind was quickly brought to the reality when a cold metallic surface touched against his neck, preparing the finishing blow.

Arata slowly opened his eye and looked forward to where Eve was standing, looking down at him with her usual emotionless face. There were no sights of fear, pity, sadness or desperation in her eyes, just like a doll that stared lifelessly into the space in front of her. No, he didn't want to die like this. Arata's heart smashed against his ribs and he was hoping that by some miracle the killed would spare him.

"So, what are you going to say now? I got your friend here as a hostage, are you still not going to come with me?" Saivar asked and yanked Arata's head back, emitting another cry of pain from the teenager. The boy's purple eye landed on Eve once again, full with pain and fear. It was a plea for the girl to save him.

"I can't do that." Eve shook her head. Arata's face turned pale from those words and his heart was beating so loudly, it was like someone had torn it from his chest and pressed it to his ear. She would sacrifice his life to save her own. It was foolish from him to expect anything else, survival is the primary instinct of all living beings after all. Yeah, self-sacrifice is a kind of mental illness that some people suffer from, but no sane person would willingly throw away their own lives to save someone else.

"What are you saying!?" Saivar yelled back at the girl and pushed the knife against Arata's skin, drawing blood. Red started to run down the boy's neck and he shut his eye tightly as the man continued yelling. "I'm going to kill him and you are ok with that!? You won't even try to attack me? I thought that you were supposed to have a heart, but you aren't any different from the other dolls!"

"I have a heart." Eve corrected and put a hand on her chest. "My time with him was wonderful and if you kill him I would feel grief. But I still can't let you take me back to that place. Too much is bet on my existence and if I come the efforts of my saviors would go to waste."

"Your existence is important?" Saivar chucked darkly. "Isn't that a selfish way to put it? You are just a defect, don't put that as something special, thank you very much. Anyway, I'm going to need it for the record so what's your name boy?"

"…Ar-rata." The boy answered weakly.

"Arata, huh?" Saivar chuckled again. "That's a shitty name. What about your surname?"

Arata kept silent, unsure if he should tell that man. Judging by what Eve and this bastard said, his father is probably involved in this. His silence irritated Saivar and he yanked his hair again, causing the boy to snivel.

"…Godbell." He ended up saying the word that could end his life.

"Godbell?" Saivar repeated and bursted into uncontrollable laughter. "Like Leonel Godbell? I can't believe it! You must be that bastard's son! You have no idea how much trouble your daddy caused all of us by kidnapping Eve. So much that I want to kill him with my bare hands."

Those words made Arata's heart to beat faster, like it was trying to jump out of his chest. He didn't want to die, he wanted to keep living, but how would a miracle like this happen? The boy shut his eye tightly and braced himself for what was about to happen next. The man raised his knife into the air and swung it down, piercing his heart. Spurts of red weakly gush from Arata's chest, he opened his mouth to scream but no sound came from it. Eyes wide as pain unlike anything he had ever felt flooded his body. It went cool, his vision darkened, and soon, he was reduced to a limp heap which fell on the ground.

Saivar smiled proudly at his work and glanced toward Eve. The girl watched the scene in front of her with an indifferent look on her face. She was sad that the boy had to die after such a short period of time, but he was just a normal human after all. Her savior should be able to understand why she scarified his son's life. Eve looked at Saivar once again, she made the logical decision of not accepting the man's demands and let him kill Arata, now was time to avenge her fallen partner.

"You aren't going to try run away?" Eve who prepared an attack stopped herself and titled her head to the side after hearing Saivar's question. The man played with his knife again and looked at the side as he continued speaking. "I killed the boy and you did nothing to stop me. Did you feel helpless? Are you afraid? I really don't understand how defects like you think."

"I don't understand your question." Eve replied confused.

"You were from the Asian Branch, right? Then why did you choose to travel all the way to Bulgaria when you know that the European Branch has far more influence over the continent? Tracking you down here would be a piece of cake. Why would a being that follows logic do such an illogical move? This makes no sense no matter how one looks at it."

"I was told to come here; that's all there is to it." Eve replied. It was true, coming to Europa was a dangerous move, so why did Arata's father send her here? He even put his own son in charge of protecting her, risking the lives of his own family. She never had the interest to question the man's motives for making such dangerous decisions until now.

"Well then, I guess it doesn't really matter now." Saivar said and slipped his knives back into his jacket. He took a black circular item and put it on his arm, momently five blades bursted from the sides of it and connected, lighting up. Eve realized that this was a Grand Order's Duel Disk; a custom made version with some modifications from the standard ones made by Konami; including a built-in Solid Vision system and the ability to use them outside of duels. It was the perfect tool for a hunter.

Saivar grinned and swiped his arm across the disk, which caused five holographic cards to appear in front of him. He took a card and put in on one of the blades, a limbless mechanical dragon materialized right in front of him and glared toward Eve. Saivar wasn't going to Duel the girl. This was going to be a hunt, but he wasn't going to be the hunter.

Eve had no chance or running away now, not that she needed to anyway. This was the kind of situation that she needed in order to unleash her true powers. The dragon charged an energy beam in its mouth and blasted the girl with it. Or that's what Saivar expected to happen. Eve took a card from her pocket and raised it into the air as the deadly projectile was making its way toward her, a golden shield formed in front of the girl and blocked the attack, reflecting it toward the ground between the two.

"Servant of light, you guardian is calling you! Merge our souls and become my blade!" Eve chanted and the card in her hand started to glow along with her skin. Saivar covered his eyes with an arm to prevent getting blinded. After a moment the light died down and the man looked toward the spot where the girl was standing, his lower jaw dropped at the sight that was presented in front of him.

Eve's outfit had completely changed from the one she had on a moment ago. The girl now wore a white body suit with golden armor covering her knees and body. The shoulder were gold and white, far larger that her body with the number '39' written in red on the left one. Eve's suit had a high collar with golden borders, while the armor had a green gem attached to the chest area. The girl had a helmet with two spikes pointing from the sides and one from the back. There were two golden swords attacked to her tights, but that wasn't nearly as striking as the two wings made of white metal which were attacked to her back.

Saivar's eyes widened in disbelieve and his arms dropped at the sides. He has heard that Guardians have the ability to infuse their souls with cards, but that was supposed to be some kind of advanced ability. It wasn't possible for Eve to have learned this trick so fast, and she also did it without summoning the monster first. Now, Saivar's grin started coming back. His prey was far more experienced than he initially expected, so it was also going to be a lot more interesting to put her down.

"Whoa, what are my eyes seeing?" Saivar chuckled darkly and put a hand on his forehead. "You aren't in Japan anymore, rat. Cosplays aren't very popular around here."

"You killed someone precious for me. I won't forgive." That was Eve's declaration. As soon as she spoke those words the girl grabbed the swords she was carrying and charged toward the mechanical dragon. The robotic beast moved back, to increase the distance between them and fired another beam toward its opponent. This time Eve jumped into the air, and slashed her swords downward. The mechanical dragon roared and retreated back with a large cut presented on its chest. Saivar gritted his teeth in anger and took two more cards from his hand.

"Don't make it sound like I did something wrong, bitch! That was my job! If you really cared about that damn boy you should have tried to save him, instead of standing there and watching how I killed him!" Saivar shouted and a second dragon appeared beside the first one, then they merged together into a single robot with two heads.

Eve didn't reply and instead focused all of her attention on the current enemy. The new beast quickly fired two beams from its mouths, it wanted revenge for the wound she had inflicted a moment ago. Eve's wings quickly reacted on the upcoming attack and created a barrier which reflected the attacks somewhere in the distance.

Using the time which the beast needed to charge another attack the girl charged toward again. Her swords started to glow and she strongly slashed the mechanical demon with everything she got. The impact caused the beast to stumble backward, but unlike last time there was no visible damage on it. Eve guessed that this was probably because the new monster was stronger than Utopia and needed more than one attack to be put down.

"What are you going to say now?" Saivar asked mockingly. Grand Order's Duel Disks were designed to be used to hunt down Guardians, therefor they were also able to counter Soul-Fusion: the trump card of any Guardian.

The fact that this attack didn't inflict any damage unnerved Eve a bit, mostly because her Soul-Fusion was more evolved and therefor stronger. Unlike the standard version of the ability where a Guardian must have already summoned the monster in order to fuse with it she was able to acquire this power without even being in a duel. If after that she was unable to completely destroy a Cyber Dragon with a single attack which also had no effect on a Cyber Twin Dragon, then the Grand Order's technology must have improved quite a lot since she was a part of their forces.

Eve didn't like wasting her time when fighting someone and always aimed for the quickest way to end it. This means that she need to aim at Saivar instead of the dragon, however, that wasn't going to be an easy task since the monster was standing in front of its master, shielding him from any possible harm that could come his way. With no other choice but to attack the robotic beast first Eve swung her swords and charged toward the monster once again.

* * *

It was cold and dark, there was nothing but an endless void; Arata could barely remember what happened for him to end in this place. His wounds had all disappeared and he was sitting on a silver throne with angel wings on the top. There was a blurred memory in the boy's head about an agonizing pain that he felt right before ending in this place. It had something to do with a girl that looked like an angel. Somehow he felt like she was someone he knew, but couldn't remember her name.

Arata wanted to move and look around this strangle place but was unable to do so. There were golden chains wrapped around his body which held him firm in place on the throne, forbidding him from moving any part of his body, even his head. Because of that Arata was forced to only look at the man sitting on a throne opposite from him and drinking black tea.

This strange person seemed to be in his mid twenties had short black hair and eyes, a mole under his left eye and small moustache that gave him the appearance of a handsome gentleman. The man wore a formal black suit with a tie and a matching top hat. There was a cane leaning against his throne, but Arata didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, the boy wondered why the man's throne didn't have the angel wings and why there were no chains to hold him in place.

A few moments of silence passed, the man then put his cup of tea on a white table (that appeared out of nowhere) and turned his attention toward his guest. A small pleasant smile appeared on his face and he leaned back against his throne. The man then put his right leg over the left one and looked the boy from toes to head before nodding.

"Another purple-eyed person appeared here." The man said with an amused tone. "You came here a few years earlier that I expected, but there is nothing bad in it. After all, if humans didn't die my job was going to be pointless."

He has died? The thought alone shocked Arata and he didn't want to believe that this was possible, but then all of the memories returned. The boy remembered the suffering he was put through and how Eve – his angel – was there watching him. She stood there and refused to save him, help him, do anything to reduce the unbearable pain.

"So I died?" Arata asked and the man confirmed with a nod. "Then, is that the hell?"

"Well, you are near it but not quite." The man replied. "This isn't really hell or heaven, it's the place between the world of living and the world of death."

"And why am I here?" After all, Arata was dead so why did that man keep him from reaching his last destination?

"Asking right ahead, eh? You are a pretty boring individual, but whatever." The man smirked and stood up, then he leaned toward Arata. "The truth is that I came to give you a curse."

"A curse?!" Oh no, that's not going to end well and Arata knew it. He tried to move again, but the chains wouldn't let him do so. In fact, their hold on him seemed to have strengthened.

"Yeah, a curse." The man repeated and his eyes started to change. They became completely black with no sight of life in them.

Arata didn't realize it, but those words set a chain of unavoidable events in motion.

"The curse of a Grim Reaper."

It was the true beginning of a fight that transcended life and death.

* * *

 **A/N: Well... It seems Arata got killed 5 chapters in the story. Good job there, Mr. Main Character!**

 **Jokes aside, I want to thank for the support!**

 **About the reviews:**

 **Thanks you** ScalchopWarrior **...**

 **But for real, I would like to give some attention to** Master Of Anime224 **'s review which is also the first constructive criticism I got in the year of our lord 2017. His review helped me a lot and told me what I need to focus on in order to make this story better. I would however like to get a better explanation about what I should do to make the world-building seem better and more realistic. Of course I will need a name for the damn town and such, but is there anything else that I'm missing there?**

 **Now to the technical part, I know that this is an overused excuse and isn't even a worthy excuse, but English isn't my first language. Because of that I actually encourage the people who read my stories to tell me when they find a mistake. Actually before your review I didn't check my wording all that much, but now I changed that and hope that there aren't any "wrong words" in this chapter. I never realized that I have been the switching between past and present tense before you addressed the issue and I'm going to work on fixing that from now on, but I'm trying to stick with past tense because like you said: "Past tense is just better".**

 **I actually once came upon your story and have it marked to read. I just haven't gotten the time for that yet. If anyone that reads this in interested, then you could go check** Master of Anime224 **'s story:** _Yu-Gi-Oh! Reality's Curtain_

 **Well, that was all about it.**

 **Diabolic Tracer Out!**


	6. Lullaby For Broken Souls

Arata was at a loss for words, all of this seemed like a bad dream to the deceased boy. He could believe that his life had come to an end; but receiving a curse? No, that didn't sound right or realistically in the slightest.

Magic and afterlife? Those were myths made from the ancient people to explain phenomenons that they didn't have enough knowledge about. They were all fake, empty words.

Then why? Why was Arata in this void between 'Life and Death'; why did he kept his consciousness after his death? It made no sense for him, he couldn't explain how this complicated stuff worked and because of that, like any normal human, he was afraid of the things that he got to witness.

"W-what do you mean by a curse?" Arata asked. His voice was trembling with fear, but he didn't try to hide it; after all the last time he tried to act as a hero it got him killed.

The man didn't answer Arata's question and instead smiled in amusement as he stepped away from the boy and sat down on his own throne. He was a God tasked to take care of the death and to help lost spirits to find their way to the afterlife; therefor, he rarely had the chance to do anything interesting or amusing.

He was isolated in darkness for so long that even the mortals that once prayed to him forgot who he was, what his name was and even that a God of Death existed. Truly, it was a horrible way to spent one's eternal life.

"Answer me!" Arata yelled, which brought the man back to reality. "What the fuck is happening? I don't get any of this! What the hell is a 'curse of the Grim Reaper'? And why me? Hundreds of people far worse than me die every day, so why don't you place that curse on one of them?!"

"Why not, huh? Well, my story is a long one and in order for it to make sense I will have to first tell you about that friend you had out there. What was her name again? Eve?"

"Eve? What does she have to do with any of this?!"

"Everything my boy. She is in the center of this whole mess, she is the Guardian of Light!"

"I have absolutely no idea what this means!" Arata yelled back. "Guardians and such, I have never heard about any of this! All I want to know is why you choose me!"

"Because of that girl!" the man yelled back. After a moment he sighed and looked away. "Just hear the story. But before that let me start by introducing myself; my name is Zóvux, but that name means nothing now, so feel free to call me however you want. I once used to be the God of Death to which people would pray for their deceased loved ones to find peace and happiness in the afterlife, but that was long time ago. It was during times when spirits, mystical beasts and even magic existed in the mortal world."

The man paused for a moment before he continued with the story.

"Back then, there was of the large amount of rampaging spirits wandered around the world and caused havoc. It was a horrible time for mortals and immortals alike. Because of all the death and misery the humans stopped trusting in us and since Gods need you - the mortals - to believe in us in order to sustain our powers, we became weaker and were eventually outnumbered by the raising threat."

"In a last desperate try to protect ourselves and your world from the evil spirits we, the gods, send a part of our powers to a small group of believers. We gave them the ability to connect with the spiritual world and tame the spirits. It was the perfect solution as unlike us, you mortals don't need a source to sustain your strength. Eventually those 'gifted' people were able to seal away the evil and became known among the rest of the humanity as the Eight Guardians."

"So that's what Eve is? A human who wields the power of Gods?" Arata stuttered, stunned by the strange story this man was telling him. "But didn't that happen a long time ago? How does those people still exist? And why isn't that mentioned anywhere in history?"

"Because we covered it up. After sealing the evil spirits away we lead the Guardians along with their families to a place far away from the rest of humanity to avoid them getting corrupted by the rest of your kind. But of course, we all knew that one day a new evil would raise so in order to be able to repel it they created eight powerful artifacts, eight crystals that held the powers of the Guardians within them. I'm not going to get into details about what happened afterward, since you already know it."

"The marks were passed through the generations." Arata replied in amazement. If that story is true then those artifacts should be at least seven thousand years old and they still exist…

A frown appeared on the man's face and he glanced toward Arata. "Unfortunately, not all Gods got the luck of having prayers like those. The people that believed in me were filled with greed so strong that they eventually tried to achieve immortality by creating artifacts that would let their owner come back from the death and you probably figured out where this is going by now."

"You didn't accept this, did you?" Arata asked, certain that the God of Death wouldn't be very happy if his cult turned against what he was representing.

"Ohm you have absolutely no idea. They, the people who prayed for me to forgive them and save their souls in the afterlife, suddenly thought that this isn't enough and tried to cheat me! So, I gave the artifacts the power those fools wanted them to have, but with the added twist that the reanimated person would become my agent. Because of that my creations quickly turned into items of vengeance and justice. They have the souls of the murdered, tortured, abused a chance to put the wrong things right."

Arata realized what those words meant. The curse that the man was talking about wasn't an actual curse. Depending from the point of view that was actually a blessing; a chance for those who had lost so much to get justice and rest in peace. Just like how the Grim Reaper takes the soul of everyone without matter about social status or past, the ones this man revived would bring the wrongdoers what they deserve without picking.

"It's a curse for the criminals…" Arata mumbled.

"That's right! Those artifacts allowed humans to cheat the laws of life and death. What would have happened if they fell in the hands of, let's say, a murder or someone like that? I wanted to avoid such scenario and so the artifacts had the power to only revive people who I have approved, only people that truly deserve that second chance."

"You should know it by now boy. Your world is a cruel place as it is, humans had always tried to become something equal to a God before and they still try it nowday. There are just seven persons gifted with divine powers from among the seven billion that live in this world. Somebody has to find them, help them discover their purpose and protect them from the dangers of your world. Eve is a very important person, a true angel that watches over others, but her wings won't protect her from the evil in people's hearts. This will be your second chance boy. A chance to protect something worth it."

"So you are giving me a life just to protect Eve? I can understand that. But that isn't the reason to call your own gift a curse, right?" Arata asked suspiciously. There was more to the curse and Zóvux didn't seem to want to talk about it.

"That's not important right now." Yep, like Arata expected the 'God of Death' wanted to dodge the question. "What I'm getting to is that you got one of those artifacts! And that's the pendant around your neck; the Viternam!"

The God's words took Arata aback and he glanced down at the item in question. The golden pendant he was always carrying with himself had the power fix the damage! He remembered how his father gave it to him when he was just four years old. The story of the pendant had haunted him until this last day; a horrible reminder about a person he would never get to know.

"Are you mocking me?" a weak whispered echoed through the void. Zóvux had guessed that this is how the boy would react when he hear about this.

Arata had grabbed the chains tied around his wrists. Stinging tears brimmed up in his eyes, running down his cheeks. His head faced downward as he let out a painful cry.

"Are you mocking me?!"

His pendant had the power to fix the damage, to erase all painful memories. It was going to bring Arata back to his father, his aunt and Eve. Zóvux said that it gave a second chance to people who deserved it, but then why didn't it revive that person? For the boy, to hear that his own life was worth more that his _precious_ _person_ , made his heart to arch in desperation and self-loathing. If this damn pendant had worked sixteen years ago he could had had a happy childhood, but now it felt like a waste of power.

"You could… You could have used this to save _someone_ worth it!" Arata yelled. " _Someone_ that deseres it more than me!"

Zóvux rolled his eyes to the side, he knew where this conversation would go if he let it continue so he snapped his fingers; the chains and the thrones all disappeared from existence. Arata fell on the ground, landing on his hands and knees. The crying boy looked up toward the God who stood in front of him with an uninterested look on his face.

Why did he save him instead of that person?

Arata wanted to shout, to yell, to curse, but for some reason he couldn't muster the strength to do so and instead just glared at the man.

"I…killed…" Arata hissed, but the person in front of him paid no attention to the confession.

Instead, he raised his right hand over Arata's head and his eyes changed their color to completely black once again. A dark mist formed into a circle around the boy and slowly started to advance toward him. Arata looked toward all sides as the black substance reached him and started to move up his body. He tried to shake it off, to remove it, but the mist planted itself on his body and continued to advance.

Arata turned his head toward Zóvux who was looking at the boy in amusement. Why? What kind of twisted joy could a God get from watching a boy's suffering? Arata had no idea, but it made him angry and deep inside it also scared him.

"'Curse of the Grim Reaper' is what the mortals called my blessing."

Arata's limbs were completely absorbed by the shadows. He couldn't move anymore…

"The reason is because once revived, you will no longer be able to live as a human. You will be nothing more but a pawn that exists to follow my orders!"

Arata's whole boy was no absorbed in the shadows. The black mist was traveling up his neck along with a burning sensation that made it hard for him to breath.

"Your soul shall return to where it belongs until your job in the living world is done. You won't become an immortal and if you are to die in that body again, then this time your soul is going to die as well."

Arata's vision started to become darker. His was body had already disappeared into the black mist.

"So make it count, boy!" The man said with a sense of superiority. "Protect the Guardians! Even if the cost is your own existence!"

Arata was barely able to hear those words before his consciousness finally snapped.

* * *

"Hyyyyaaaaaaa!" Arata cried out as he sat up with sweat rolling down his face. Pain instantly flowed in and forced him to stop moving. "Damn it!" Arata shouted and clutched his pendant. The item had never done anything good for him, it had brought him only suffering and bad memories.

Arata closed his eyes, he could remember clearly everything that happened before and after his death. The arching wounds reminded him of the blades that were once inside of his flesh; it made his stomach to twitch and an acidic taste raised in his mouth, but he covered it with a palm before anything could come out. The mere thought of the way he died made him sick to the bone.

After he calmed down, Arata removed the hand and looked around his surroundings. He was in a room, probably his own, but it was too dark to make out anything that would support this theory. He felt cold for some reason and initially thought that it was because he just came back to live, but soon realized that there was a completely different reason for his discomfort. He was sitting on his bed, on top of the covers, covered in sweat and had no shirt or anything else on to cover his top.

Arata looked down at his own body, but it was dark so he couldn't see much. He ran a hand through his chest and felt the bandages that covered his chest and back. After that he moved his hand to touch his right cheek which along with his eyes were covered in the same white material as the rest of his wounded body. Pain flowed in whenever he moved causing him to sweat heavily.

"Don't push yourself." A voice came from somewhere within the room.

After a moment the lights in the room turned on Eve stood next to the light switch, wearing a white t-shirt one size too big for here, which right now was a good thing since it didn't seem like she wore anything underneath it. Arata responded to Eve's voice by only moving his eyes to look towards her direction, not even surprised of her improper clothing.

"I knew that you would come back." Eve said with what she must have thought to be a sweat and carrying voice.

Arata simply rolled his eyes at the girl's attempt to act kindly toward him. She was there watching as he got murdered and didn't try to do anything to save him. She gave up on him to safe her own life and even though he could understand her reason to do so, that didn't make the thought any less painful. She was the only true friend he had, but she betrayed their friendship; he couldn't even bear to look her into the eyes any more.

"How long have I been out?" Arata asked and ran a hand through his pendant; the purple crystal had turned even darker, almost black in color.

"Two days." Eve answered, with her signature monotone voice.

"Did you know that my pendant was cursed?"

"Not at first." Eve said, "I figured that out after Saivar flee and the pendant started to glow. I carried you to the house and treated your injuries."

"So, you scarified my life without knowing if I'm going to revive or not!" Arata finally snapped and glared at the girl.

Eve lowered her head regretfully. She knew that what she did was a mistake. She had been preparing herself mentally about the moment when Arata would open his eyes again. But no matter how many times she had played this scene in her head it wasn't enough to make his words sound any less obnoxious. Eve was so ashamed of her actions that she would have run away after she had treated Arata's wounds, to not anger him with her presence, but she couldn't, because she had nowhere else to go and the Order could find her no matter where she tried to hide.

So the opinion was either to stay with Arata and endanger his life only, or to run away and get more people hurt because of that.

"I'm sorry." Eve bowed her head. "I know that this isn't going to make you any better and a single 'I'm sorry' or 'Thank you' isn't anywhere enough to repay you for what you did. If it would calm you down you can beat me, yell at me, and curse me, because that's everything I can give you in return."

Arata ran a hand across his hair. The idea about beating Eve, or any girl for that matter, didn't stay well with him. He was against the idea of someone hurting someone else just because they can do it. The mess Eve had gotten herself into was far too dangerous for him to handle and she had already shown that she couldn't be trusted, but even though Arata couldn't bring himself to forgive her he was also unable to cast her out. Actually, he was resurrected just to protect Eve from people like the man who murdered him, so if he wanted to kick her out that would be equal to committing suicide.

"It seems like I don't have any other choice but to accept your apologize." Arata sighed and looked Eve into the eyes. "That doesn't mean that I'm going to forgive you, actually, I don't think that I will ever be able to, but you can continue to life in this house."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Arata stood up and walked toward Eve. Staring deeply into her eyes he put a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to sound so rude to you, but you couldn't possible understand what I went through in the afterlife. I had an encounter that brought back some unpleasant memories." Arata lowered his head as tears brimmed from his eye once again. He couldn't accept that this damn pendant had chosen to revive him; he didn't deserve it. He absolutely didn't.

Arata was once again remembering the events that lead to him gained that curse tool when Eve suddenly hugged him and stuck close to him. He looked down at the girl curiously, this type of psychical affection was unfamiliar to him, but he refrained from making any comments about it. Actually, Arata expected to hear some cliché line like 'Don't worry because I'm with you' or something of that type, but it Eve didn't say anything of that sort. She just kept hugging him as she touched his right cheek to the side of her head.

Arata didn't move or say anything and let Eve enjoy herself, but even after a whole minute had passed she didn't seem to have any intentions to move away, which made Arata feel pretty awkward since he remembered that he was topless. Arata's face heated up and turned red while his head was desperately thinking of ways to get the girl off of his chest.

"I have been out for two days and my wounds have already healed that much." Eventually he settled with the idea to turn her attention somewhere else with a random comment. Well, he definitely was desperate.

"At first I tried to use my abilities on them, but I found it unneeded since they all closed by themselves rather quickly." Eve replied and broke the hug to look at the bandages that covered most of Arata's upper body and face. "It was almost like your body regenerated."

"Well, I guess it did, after all I got stabbed in the heart. Though I'm a bit worried about how I'm going to show up at school tomorrow with those bandages."

"If your hearth has restored itself then shouldn't it be the same for your eye?" Eve raised her hands and put them behind Arata's head. After a moment she had untied the bandages and they fell on the ground.

Eve opened her eyes widely in surprise and took a step back, she stared at Arata miserably then lowered her eyes. Arata understood by this that something had gotten wrong, but couldn't understand what it was as he could actually see with his eye and it felt normally.

"What is wrong?" He asked concerned.

Eve just shook her head and moved to the side. "You should see for yourself."

Without hesitation, Arata burst through the door of his room and ran into the hallway. All kinds of horrible thoughts ran through his head as the boy sprinted toward the bathroom. He kicked the door open and looked into the mirror that was attached above the sink. What he was, thankfully wasn't anywhere near what he feared, but it wasn't that far away from it. His eye wasn't much different form before, it was still the same purple color that it was before; the different was that now it had a large scar that trailed down his cheek. It was crude and hooked slightly at a few points. Arata however put those small details into the back of his head and focused more on the unnatural dark purple color of the scar.

"What the heck?!" Arata yelled. What kind of curse did that man put on him?

Without hesitation Arata grabbed the bandages that covered his chest and ripped them off. He gritted his teeth at the sight of the single deep scar was presented on the left side, where his heart was, formed into a form that resembled a dark purple tattoo.

"Ha." An empty laugh escaped Arata's lips and he leaned toward the mirror, using the sink to support his body. "I turned purple?" Arata chuckled at his own comment and continued to stare at his scars. How was he going to cover that from his aunt? Was that a part of the curse as well? More and more questions popped into the boy's head and he was too busy trying to come up with an answer for that that he completely failed to notice the other person in the room with him.

From behind, Eve stared toward Arata miserably and put a hand on her chest. She didn't say anything and just looked at the boy for a bit before she turned and left the room.

* * *

Inside a metallic room filled with computers and all kinds of hi-tech stood a man, in his mid-forties with a dark grey hair, glasses over his dark eyes and a large lab cloak. The man was peacefully working onto a new program with no worries until the door of his lab got rudely burst open by a certain fellow.

"What the fuck is this old man?!" Saivar roared and threw his Duel Disk on the floor in front of the man in the lab cloak. He in turn simply looked at the machine and raised an eyebrow.

"If you don't explain more specifically about the problem you have with my equipment I won't be able to fix it, you know?" The man said casually and lifted the Duel Disk of the ground. "Also, please refrain from breaking technology that you clearly don't have the money to buy."

"Shut your trap, bastard!" Saivar yelled and grabbed the man by the collar of his lab cloak, which didn't provoke any particular emotion from the latter. "Your update was shit! It's Solid Vision wasn't strong enough to beat that whore's Soul-Fusion!"

"A Soul-Fusion?" the man repeated as a spark of interest appeared in his dark eyes. "You are saying that she was able to use that?"

"Yes! And I'm telling you that the update you added in my Duel Disk that lets the holograms withstand it didn't fucking help!"

"So in other words you failed to capture her." The man sighed in disappointment and turned toward the Duel Disk. "Well, it seems that her abilities must have evolved while she was out. I used the data we had from before when tuning you Duel Disk, so that must be the reason why it didn't work. I'm going to fix it now. Are you sure that you will be able to handle the mission?"

"It's going to be a bit easier now." Saivar replied with a smile and let go of the man. "She had a boy protecting her, but I killed him and now she is completely alone."

"Just one boy? Are you sure?"

"Yes! If there were more than that, they would have shown up when I engaged into a fight with the doll."

"That's interesting indeed." The man cupped his chin and turned his back to Saivar. "But now that you have killed the boy they will try to protect her even harder. You had only one chance to do it quickly so be careful from now on."

"Tch. Whatever." Saivar sighed and turned to leave. As soon as he was out of the lab he stopped and hit his fist into the wall.

"Next time I will get you, doll."

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, that took some time. Not much to say here this time, expect that I did a small change on the last chapter. Originally, I had written that the story takes place somewhere in Netherlands, but since I want to eventually reveal the town and all other things as well, and I know jack shit about Netherlands I changed it to Bulgaria, as I'm a bit more familiar with that one.**

 **Also, that's another chapter without dueling... In a YGO fanfiction... I swear I'm going to fix that from the next chapter on. It's really worth looking forward to as the next chapter is not only going to introduce the third important character of this story, but in it I will also reveal those new summoning mechanics that were mentioned in the FIRST chapter ;)**

 **Btw, I think I murdered all of the typos before posting, but if I didn't please tell me so I can burn them with fire.**

 **Until next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer Out!**


	7. Dueling Girlz

**So, before we start I would want to thank ThatLoneAvenger and Master Of Anime224 for all the helpful critism they gave me as well as**

 **Arata: Our story is part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! OC-MultiVerse Community! Whoohooo!**

 **Eve:...!**

 **Well, please enjoy.**

* * *

Arata yawned while he rested his head on the desk before him. His hair was uncombed and the sclera of his left eye was slightly red from lack of sleep while a white medical eyepatch cover the right one. That along with the purple scar that ran down his cheek gave birth to many new 'rumors' about him which spreaded like wildfire and caused even the teacher to quiver when they entered the classroom just to see this kind of face staring at them. All of this would have been really amusing if it wasn't for how drained out and drowsy he felt right now.

Arata couldn't believe that one night of lost sleep could drain so much of his energy when he had just came back from two days of being death, but who knows – maybe kicking the bouquet wasn't the same as hitting the sack. Last night he hastened to say that the purple scar on his face was the worst thing that had happened, but not long after fate came knocking on his door and kicked him between the legs in the worst way possible.

It was a complete disaster that started somewhere around one o'clock in the morning with a scream loud enough to wake up the death. Arata was rolling in his bed while holding his hair tightly with both hands. A fissure of pain was tearing across his skull while his face felt like it was ripped open and someone was trying to pull out his insides from the scar on his cheek. Arata didn't know how long he was screaming mindlessly, but because of the suffering he hadn't noticed when Eve kicked the door of his bedroom open and ran inside. The only thing he remembered from this hellish experience was that the girl put his head on her lap, then touched his eye with one hand; that caused the pain to subdue and disappear as fast and suddenly as it came.

After that Eve gave him the medical eyepatch, saying that it would be better to hide his eye for a bit – which worried Arata but he still agreed – and went back to her room. Left on his own account Arata had to spend the rest of the night wandering around the house, checking his email and watching TV because his mind could no longer relax enough to let him fall asleep.

But now that was in the past and he wasn't the type of person – or corpse - to chew on old things. Arata heard the sound of footsteps approaching him and then his desk shook a bit as new weight was added to it. He raised an eye to see Eve sitting next to where his head was resting with crossed legs while she stared at him with her trademark poker face. For a moment Arata's eyes widened and could swear that behind this façade of a harmless angel that doesn't understand the concept of such 'bad' things lied a succubus that was trying to seduce him.

"Is there a problem?" Arata asked raising his head from the desk.

"Why are we still here when everyone else has already left?" Eve asked with her best monotone voice. Arata didn't need to look around to confirm what she had just said as right now the two of them were the only occupiers of this classroom and probably most of the fourth floor. By the power of an old unwritten agreement all other of his classmates left the building as soon as the second class had ended. And although staying in this room for five more hours didn't bother Arata, who was used to it, he could imagine how bored out of her brain Eve was right now.

"I like to think myself as an exemplary student." Arata replied half-hearty. "What's the point of me skipping classes like those other shitheads when there is nothing to do outside this building anyway? I may as well just root here until the janitor come to throw me out."

"The class has already started." Eve said. "Why is the teacher taking so long?"

Arata suppressed his laugh. It was cute how clueless Eve was when it came to how the world really worked. "He left the building after the first class ended."

"Shouldn't you report that the teacher isn't doing his work?"

"That need to be discussed." Arata nodded and turned toward the empty desks. "Hey, Eve thinks that we should report the teacher for skipping his classes. Rise a hand if you agree! What's that? Sorry Eve it seems that they don't think so like you."

Arata knew that this was a bit rude and expected Eve to glare at him or roll his eyes, but instead she stood up from his desk and sat on the front one with her body turned toward him. Although he was used to seeing her lifeless eyes, this time around there was something different in them that sent shivers down his spine.

"Stare."

"Please, don't use anime characters as role models." Arata groaned.

"Stare!"

"Ok, I get it!"

* * *

"Where are we going? This isn't the way to our house." said Eve.

"We will go visit someone before going back home." Arata replied and continued on his path.

While Eve followed after Arata she took the change to look around her surroundings. There were various kinds of shops and restaurants each of which looked amazing and different from the rest in color or shape, though all of them had large signs to attract customers. But what she focused her attention on the most was how sloped were almost all of the streets. You needed to be very careful when you descend and climbing just one of these already made her legs hurt. Now she understood why there were so much taxis, trams and buses in this city.

Arata noticed her interest so he slowed a bit to let her get closed and began to explain: "You know, this city is actually situated on three hills which is why there are so much steep streets around those parts."

"That's really amazing." Eve continued looking at the buildings.

"You think?" Arata looked up toward the higher parts of the city. "There is a medieval castle on one of the hills right next to the city, a wax museum and so much more. One day I will show you around the city."

"Really?" Eve looked at the boy in wonder.

"Well, there is nothing better for me to do, so why not? But please, no crazy murderers this time around."

"I can't promise anything." This made Arata laugh.

"I guess you don't." Then Arata's expression became serious. There was something important that he needed to know from Eve but was unable to ask her before because they were at school. But now they were outside and the streets were almost empty so that could be his chance.

"Hey, what trick did you use to make the pain go away last night? I mean, you just put your hand on my eye and it all just ended… How are you doing this?"

"That's my ability as a Guardian." Eve looked down at her hands and frowned. "As the Guardian of Light I have the power to purify. My abilities allow me to reduce the pain someone feels as well as slightly heal injuries – like slowing down bleeding - for a temporal period of time."

"That's actually a very useful ability." Arata noted.

Slowly Eve's eyes widened as she heard his response. "You think so? It's completely useless in a war."

"What do you mean?" Arata raised an eyebrow. "This kind of ability is most useful in a war. It's a power that lets you help those who got hurt during the battle and even save their life. And during war, every single live matters."

Eve was taken aback by his words. She had never tried to look at her own powers in such a way. She always thought that if she didn't have the power to hurt or kill her enemies she would be useless as a warrior. But now Arata told her that saving your comrades' lives is more important. Could that actually be true? In the Grand Order she was put under such strict training because her abilities weren't what they needed. She always thought that the reason why Mr. Godbell sent her away was because she was useless for them. Did she misunderstood his reasons?

"Hey Eve!" Arata put a hand on her shoulder interrupting the girl's thoughts. She looked up at him and he gave her a big smile before gesturing with his other hand toward a Card Shop. "We are there."

Eve's eyes narrowed while she inspected the building before them. It wasn't much different from the card shop at the Mall. It was white in color with many structure decks and various booster packs put on display behind the showcase.

Arata turned the knob and they walked. Eve momently noticed that while the external side was the same as any other Card Shop, the inner side was far different from the one in the Mall. It was well-arranged, the shelves were put next to the walls opening a huge open area in the center with five of those dueling tables that the two dueled on before.

"Long time not seen, Arata." A voice called and the teens turned to look at where it came from. Standing at the Cashbox was a middle aged man with shaved hair and brown eyes. His clothes consisted of a red shirt, dark blue jeans and black sneakers.

The man's name was Amelin Dobrev - the best friend of Arata's father - a kind person that always helped Arata since he began to live in this city. In fact it was the Card Shop that he owned what encouraged the boy to start playing Yu-Gi-Oh and has always been his main source of cards for new decks and strategies.

"I have been somewhat busy in the last few weeks." Arata replied half jokily then sighed. "You know, the first thing that I expected you would do when I come here was to scold me for skipping classes."

"Katerina told me that most of your classes today were canceled." Amelin replied crossing his hands. "It starts to happen very often."

A sly smile formed on Arata's features, but he knew better than to expose a girl's lie to her father. Not that the man didn't know that she was deceiving him in the first place. It hurt Arata to think that the daughter of such a nice and caring person could lie him in the eyes times and times again without any kind of remorse. Whoever the girl was, she definitely didn't deserve to have such good parents.

"And, oh God, what happed to your eye!?" Amelin panicked.

"Oh that?" Arata ran a hand through his eyepatch. "I fell and hurt myself. The doctor said that it wasn't anything serious thought."

"And the purple scar?" Amelin obviously wasn't buying this excuse.

"Well it happened last Friday when I stayed after classes to help the Chemistry teacher and tripped while I held a chemical whose name I can't currently remember. Don't worry it just had temporally sticked to my skin but it should fall of after a few days or… weeks."

Amelin just gave him a look as if he was saying 'I know that you are lying' and Arata was sure that he did. The two knew each other for so long, there was no doubt that the old man knew when Arata wasn't honest.

"So do you have any sneak peeks for me today?" Arata asked trying to move the conversation in another direction.

"Isn't that why you came in the first place?" Amelin shook his head, then he took a box of cards from the shelf behind him and put it on the cash desk.

Arata moved forward and took it in his hands. The box wasn't much bigger than his hand and it was dark purple in color with some kind of cybernetic feel to it. On the front was the image of some humanoid creature whose head was made of black flames with two purple eyes and a huge twisted grin. It wore a demonic black armor with purple lines running through it and two blade like structures resting on its back. The box had the words ' **ESPer's Wrath** ' written in bold golden letters in front of the monster with ' **Structure Deck** ' written in a similar style but using smaller letters right below.

"The best of best, huh?" Arata asked with a smirk.

"The hottest Structure Deck this season. It's composed of Psychic-type monsters and incorporates the Transcendent Summon." Amelin replied then turned his attention toward Eve. "What about the young lady?"

"Do you have any kind of generic Thunder support?" Eve asked looking around the shop.

"I don't think we do." Amelin replied as he turned toward the door next to him and opened it. "Sweety, are there cards that support Thunder-type?"

"Around none." A feminine voice answered and the door opened as girl stepped inside the room. She was the same age as Arata but a few centimeters shorter than him with long copper hair held by a black hair clip in the front and tied into a bump on the back while her eyes were the same brown color as Amelin's. She was dressed in a simple white shirt, black baggy pants and flats of the same color.

Her brown orbs met with Arata's purple one and after just a moment she looked away feeling uneasy while he recognized her. She was in the same class as him and sat in the front seat of the middle column. Her school marks were average and she was one of the more popular faces in the school. Though, Arata didn't know much about her personally as the two had never talked with each other, though that wasn't a surprise given that she was of the stronger believers in the bad rumors about him that were spreaded at school. He never suspected that she could be Amelin's daughter.

"Kate, I believe you already know Arata." Amelin said. "You are in the same class after all."

"I have seen him around." She answered while refusing to make eye contact with the boy. Instead she turned toward Eve. "Ah, you are the transfer student, Eve, right? What are you doing here?"

"I came to look around with my friend." Eve answered taking Arata's hand in her own. "Are you this man's daughter?"

"His name is Amelin." Arata said a bit offended of the girl's lack of manners. "And if you don't know his name call him Mister, not 'this man'."

Eve nodded and lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

"There is no need to act that way toward her." Amelin stated.

"What do you expect of a psycho?" Kate whispered which caused her father to glare at her.

"I'm not trying to act bad toward her." Arata laughed it off and ran a hand through Eve's hair. "She is just new to this country and our culture so I'm trying to teach her as fast as possible so she couldn't embarrass herself when speaking with other people."

Both Amelin and Kate turned their eyes toward Eve to see if she was going to confirm this. The girl glanced at Arata as she began to understand what he was trying to do. He wanted to redirect Mister Amelin's attention away from the comment that his daughter's made while at the same time explaining Eve's situation to them without endangering their lives by telling the complete truth. She choose to play along with this plan and nodded eagerly.

"I understand." Amelin put his hand on the desk and leaned on it. "Hey, Arata are you going to sign up for the Trinity Cup tournament?"

"What is that?" Arata asked interested.

"Tournament for teams that consist of three members." Amelin said and gestured toward Kate. "My princess wanted to sign up for it, but she was unable to form a team yet and the time is running out."

"Well too bad." Arata sighed and looked at the Structure Deck in his hand. "I'm not much of a team player and I don't like going to tournaments."

"What a shame." Amelin shook his head. "I can't help but wonder what all of the cards that you brought are being used for." For a moment Arata felt like there was something more to the old man's words, but he dismissed that thought. There was no way that Amelin could be referring to the underground duels that he was taking part in.

After that the four stood in awkward silence until Eve turned her eyes to Kate, who was playing with a lock of her hair, and spoke: "So are you a duelist?"

"Hm? Yes I am." Kate confirmed and put both hands on her hips proudly. "I was actually a regional champion once."

"That sounds good." Eve said monotonously which caused the other girl to tremble a bit before she continued. "Would you like to duel me? I didn't have many chances to test out my deck and I wanted to duel against someone with more… experience."

"You could have asked me to help you with that." Arata said.

Eve glared back at him ominously causing the boy to shrink in fear. It also made him to question how high the chances that the duel would end with an accident were.

"I'm always up for a duel." Kate nodded and grabbed the knob of the door behind her, opening it. "Just let me get my deck and we could start."

Both Arata and Amelin watched carefully as the girl retreated into the backroom after which the former put the Structure Deck that he was holding on the desk and took out his wallet. "Anyway, I'm buying it." Amelin nodded and took the little box to mark it while Arata turned toward Eve again. "But really, why don't you duel me instead?"

"Because I just can't bring myself to duel all out against you." Eve confessed.

Arata's eyes widened when he heard those words: "Wait! You are telling me that when we dueled at the Mall you held back the whole time?"

"Let's do it!" Kate shouted as she passed behind Eve. The white haired girl nodded and followed leaving Arata to slowly crumble backward on the cash desk, trying to gather the pieces of his broken pride while Amelin patted him on the shoulder with a knowing look on his face.

Kate and Eve positioned themselves on the opposite sides of a Dueling Table and began to shuffle their decks while Arata and Amelin stood at the sides and watched the two girls. Eve glanced at her cards; she hadn't expected that she would need to carry them with herself everywhere, at least not so soon. But since she couldn't just stay room all the time, in the likely situation that the Grand Order sent assassins after her in public, the girl would need a way to protect both herself and the people around her. She originally thought that carrying just a single powerful monster that she could merge with would be enough, however because with Utopia she was barely able to hold her own against Saivar who wasn't known for his great dueling skills she figured out that it would be better to be prepared for any possible scenario.

Kate and Eve put their decks on the table and the black screen lighted up and seventeen circles of different colors appeared on each duelist's side of the field. Five of those were blue to indicate 'Monster Zone' while the other five below them were the 'Spell &Trap Zone' which were colored green. The 'Field Zone' was brown; both the 'Extra Deck' and 'Main Deck' were white; the 'Graveyard' was light grey; the 'Pendulum Zones' red and 'Banished Zone' was purple.

Finally, both girls drew their first five cards from their decks and shouted. "DUEL!"

 **『** **Kate** **LP: 8000, Hand: 5 (VS)** **Eve** **LP: 8000, Hand: 5** **』**

"Since I challenged you, you can take the first turn." Eve said.

"Don't mind if I do." Kate replied politely and took a card from her hand. "First I will start by summoning _**Terrally Agate Scorpion**_!"

Suddenly the hologram of a scorpion like creature made of some kind of green crystal-like matter with the string on the end of its tail looking like a sword made of a white crystal.

 **Terrally Agate Scorpion** **[LV:** **3** **/** **Earth** **/** **Rock/Effect** **/** **ATK:** **10** **00** **/DEF:** **14** **00]**

 **Effect:** **Once per turn: You can send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Terrally" monster from your Deck.**

"That's interesting." Eve commented while she starred at the small hologram.

"That's nothing." Kate replied before continuing her turn. "Next, I activate Agate Scorpion's effect to discard a monster card and special summon a level four or lower 'Terrally' monster from my deck! And the one I choose is _**Terrally Gallium Lacooda**_!"

The new monster was a three hump camel made of dark rock, whose humps were made of a light grey metal which extended to cover the beasts neck and formed spikes on it. The poor creature had sticked out its tongue and looked like it was about to past out from heat.

 **Terrally Gallium Lacooda** **[LV:** **3** **/** **Earth** **/** **Rock/Effect** **/ATK:** **3** **00/** **DEF:** **17** **00** **]**

 **Effect: If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can add 1 Field Spell Card from your Deck to your hand.**

"Then I activate the Field Spell, **Terrally Barricade**!" The black background underneath Kate's field changed to show a picture of a mountain passage with various creatures made of rock standing in an outlined circle.

 **Terrally Barricade** **(Spell) Field**

 **All Rock-Type monsters on the field gain 500 DEF. Once per turn: You can change the battle position of 1 face-up Rock-Type monster that was Normal Summoned this turn. If this face-up card in the Field Zone is sent to the Graveyard: You can add 1 "Terrally" card from your Deck to the hand.**

"I use Terrally Barricade's effect to change _Agate Scorpion_ to defense position." Kate explained. "Furthermore, due to Barricade's effect all monster I control gain five hundred more defense points."

"Finally I set a card and end my turn." Kate finished.

"I have never seen this kind of deck before." Eve put a finger under her chin, then a very small smile lighted up her face. "This is going to be interesting. Draw."

 **『** **Turn 2 [Eve] LP: 8000, Hand: 6** **』**

"I will start off by summoning **Thundecture** **Drone – Centrious**!" Eve exclaimed putting the card on the field. Immediately appeared the hologram that showed a robot with four black legs and a flat white body and a single blue orb on the front serving as an eye.

 **Thundecture** **Drone – Centrious** **[LV:** **3** **/** **Light** **/** **Thunder/Effect** **/** **ATK:** **10** **00** **/DEF:** **10** **00]**

 **Effect:** **If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "** **Thundecture** **" card: You can destroy 1 face-up card on the field. During your Main Phase, you can Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 "** **Thundecture** **" monster from your hand or Graveyard in face-up Attack Position.**

"What the heck?!" Kate shouted and leaned her body forward to get a better look at the card that her opponent had just played. "I haven't seen this card before. Its text is also written in Japanese!"

"Well, Eve came from Japan!" Arata shouted from the sidelines.

"If you can't read the text don't worry to use the Dueling Table's card recognizer!" Amelin reminded his daughter.

"That's right!" Kate nodded and clicked a button near the smaller screen that was below the playing field. It lighted up and the table began to scan the current game field after which a small image of Eve's monster appeared on Kate's lower screen along with the text of the card translated to English.

"Interesting." Eve said causing the others to look at her curious. "I wasn't sure if the machine would recognize the cards of my deck since it isn't following the OCG format."

"Don't worry." Kate smiled back. "Those tables have the information about all cards, both TCG and OCG. It's just that depending on the region in which they are stationed they 'lock' the cards that aren't yet released in this region. But that doesn't stop you from using Japanese cards as when you do, the table temporally unlocks the data of the card you used until the duel ends."

"That's some very helpful information." Eve replied. "But back to the duel, I activate **Thundecture** **Code –** **Faenar**."

 **Thundecture** **Code –** **Faenar (Spell)** **Continuous**

 **Once per turn: You can target 1 card on the field, then reduce by 800 the ATK of 1 monster you control with 800 or more ATK; destroy that target. If this face-up card is sent to the Graveyard: You can target 1 "** **Thundecture** **Code** **" Spell Card or Trap Card in your Graveyard; add it to your hand.**

"I activate Faenar's effect to reduce the attack of _Centrious_ by eight hundred and destroy a card on the field! Of course, I choose your set card!" The spell card unleashed an electric current into the drone causing its eye to begin glowing and then it shoot a laser toward the card.

"Not bad." Kate commented as she put the trap card into her graveyard.

"I'm just getting warmed." Eve replied and moved his monster card into the graveyard. "I activate **Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing**!" She said putting the card on the field. "With its effect, once per turn I can add a 'Thundecture' monster from my deck to the hand. I add _Thundecture Drone – Knight_." Eve showed the card then added it to her hand.

 **Thundecture** **Code –** **Queen's Blessing** **(Spell)** **Continuous**

 **During your Main Phase: You can add 1 "** **Thundecture** **" monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "** **Thundecture** **Code –** **Queen's Blessing" once per turn. Your opponent cannot target monsters on your side of the field with Spell/Trap effects.**

"You aren't done yet, right?" Kate asked while she played with a lock of her hair.

"You said it." Eve nodded, then she moved Centrious to the graveyard. "I use Centrious' effect to tribute it and special summon **Thundecture Drone – Knight** from my hand!"

As Eve put the card on her field a hologram bursted from it, taking the form of a humanoid creature wearing heavy white armor with black hands and chest. The knight had a helmet that covered his eyes and it held a large broadsword on its back with electricity jolting from the tip of his blade.

 **Thundecture** **Drone – Knight** **[LV:** **5** **/** **Light** **/** **Thunder/Effect** **/** **ATK:** **23** **00** **/DEF:** **15** **00]**

 **Effect:** **When this card destroy an opponent's monster by battle: Inflict 1000 damage to your opponent, also banish that monster.**

"Now battle!" Eve cried out. "My Knight will destroy your _Agate Scorpion_!"

The warrior took its large blade and charged toward, cutting the monster in two and putting and end of its existence in the world of living.

"Due to Knight's effect the monster it destroyed will be banished from play and you will take one thousand points of damage." Eve explained and Kate nodded, moving her card into the zone next to her Graveyard.

 **『** **Kate LP: 8000 - 7000, Hand: 1** **』**

"Eve's deck is actually really interesting." Arata said putting a hand under his chin in deep thought. "It's able to utilize high level monsters while keeping the consistency of her deck and hand."

"My sweet heart's deck is nothing to underestimate either." Amelin told him while he looked at his daughter. "This duel is going to get really interesting during the next turn."

"I set a card and finish my turn." Eve said and glanced toward the trap card she had destroyed with Faenar's effect, knowing how much of an advantage she had given her opponent now that it was in the graveyard.

"Then it's my move again." Kate said as she drew a card from her deck and glanced toward Eve's field.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Kate] LP: 7000, Hand: 2** **』**

"I think my girl just got the card that she needed." Amelin exclaimed as he patted Arata's back, but the boy was too focused on the duel to pay any attention of the man.

"Very nice." Kate said before playing a spell card. "I play _**Terrally Fusion**_ to Fusion Summon a 'Terrally' monster by banishing the needed materials from my field and graveyard. But since there is a face-up field spell I'm also allowed to use monsters from your graveyard!" Kate cried out as she took the monster that lied in her graveyard.

 **Terrally Fusion (Spell) Normal**

 **Fusion Summon 1 Rock-Type Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing monsters from your field and/or Graveyard as Fusion Materials. If there is a face-up Field Spell, you can also banish monsters from your opponent's Graveyard as Fusion Materials. If this card is in your Graveyard while there is a face-up Field Spell: You can shuffle it into the Deck, then sent the top card of your deck to the Graveyard.**

"I fuse _**Terrally Mawsit Chuckwalla**_ from my graveyard along with your _Thundecture_ _Drone – Centrious_!" Kate explained.

Both girls moved their respective monsters to the banished zones and Kate smiled: "You would be surprised if you knew how often I have used that guy in a duel despite its low stats. But it can't be helped I guess! I Fusion Summon, _**Terrally Ammolite Moloch**_!"

On the field appeared the hologram of a four-legged dragon without wings and an intimidating array of spikes covering its whole body which were smoothly changing their colors.

 **Terrally Ammolite Moloch** **[LV:** **4** **/** **Earth** **/** **Rock/Fusion/Effect** **/** **ATK:** **18** **00** **/DEF:** **16** **00]**

 **1 Rock-Type + 1 Level 4 or lower monster**

 **Effect:** **If a Field Spell is activated while this card is face-up on the field; this card gains 500 ATK until the end of this turn. Once per turn: You can target 1 Rock-Type monster you control and 1 other card on the field; destroy them.**

"I activate _Ammolite Moloch_ 's effect!" Kate cried and pointed at Eve's monster. "I destroy my _Terrally Gallium Lacooda_ and your _Thundecture_ _Drone – Knight_!" The lizard fired all of the spikes on its back, piercing through both monsters and destroying them. "Then _Gallium Lacooda_ 's effect lets me add a field spell from the deck to my hand!"

"She destroyed my monster and got a search out of it." Eve commented. "The situation is going to get dangerous."

"You said it." Kate replied. "Now I sent _Terrally Barricade_ to the graveyard in order to activate **Terrally Sanctuary**!" The field image changed to a temple made of gems hidden inside a dark cave.

 **Terrally Sanctuary** **(Spell) Field**

 **Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to the Normal or Special Summon of a Rock-Type monster. During the turn they were Normal or Special Summoned, your opponent cannot target "Terrally" monsters you control with card effects, and they cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects. If this face-up card in the Field Zone is sent to the Graveyard: You can shuffle 1 "Terrally" card from your Graveyard into the Deck.**

"Now, _Ammolite Moloch_ 's effect raises its own attack by five hundred as a field spell was activated and _Barricade_ lets me add another 'Terrally' card from my deck to the hand!" Kate took a card from her deck and showed it to Eve: "I add a second _Terrally Fusion_. Then I activate it!" Kate cried out and pointed at her opponent's Graveyard once again.

Eve frowned and she moved her other monster to the banished zone as Kate summoned another monster: "I fuse my _Terrally Gallium Lacooda_ and your _Thundecture_ _Drone – Knight_! Come forth, _**Terrally**_ _**Almandine Rhinoceros**_!"

The new monster that came was a large rhino made of dark rock with glowing red eyes and a large horn made of crimson crystal that also existed on the back of the creature in the form of three spikes.

 **Terrally** **Almandine Rhinoceros** **[LV:** **6** **/** **Earth** **/** **Rock/Fusion/Effect** **/** **ATK:** **21** **00** **/DEF:** **23** **00]**

 **1 Rock-Type + 1 Level** **5** **or** **6** **monster**

 **Effect:** **If a "Terrally" monster you control battles, your opponent's cards and effects cannot be activated until the end of the Damage Step. If a Rock-Type monster you control attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. .**

"It's not over yet!" Kate continued. "Next I will replace Sanctuary with **Terrally Terrablast**!" the old field picture disappeared and got replace by a new one that showed multiple rock monsters raising from beneath the ground, seemingly pissed off.

 **Terrally Terrablast** **(Spell) Field**

 **All Rock-Type monsters on the field gain 500 ATK. Once per turn: You can discard 1 Rock-Type monster from your hand, then target 1 monster on the field; destroy it. If this face-up card in the Field Zone is sent to the Graveyard: You can add 1 "Terrally" card from your Graveyard to the hand.**

"Holy macaroni!" Arata shouted in awe and turned toward Eve. "You better have a defensive plan ready!"

"Now, _Terrablast_ raises the attack of all rock monsters by five hundred and so does _Ammolite Moloch_ 's effect for itself!" Kate smirked. "Finally, _Sanctuary_ 's effect shuffles a 'Terrally' card in my graveyard back into the deck and I choose _Terrally Barrier_."

"I'm starting to see how you became a regional champion." Eve commented quietly while she checked the field and her hand for any possible solution.

"Thanks." Kate replied. "But now I attack you directly with _Terrally Ammolite Moloch_!"

"I play _Mirror Force_!" Eve countered.

"Not so fast! At this moment I use the effect of the trap that you destroyed early! I banish _**Terrally Brilliant Excavation**_ to negate the effect of your card!"

 **Terrally Brilliant Excavation (Trap) Normal**

 **Return up to 2 of your Rock-Type monster(s) to the hand. If there is a face-up Field Spell on the field, you can Special Summon them instead. If you control a Rock-Type monster, except the turn this card was sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 face-up Spell/Trap Card your opponent controls; it has its effects negated until the end of this turn.**

Eve lowered her head as she had to move her card into the graveyard zone, while her life points dropped drastically.

 **『** **Eve LP: 8000 - 4700, Hand: 2** **』**

"Next, a direct attack from _Terrally_ _Almandine Rhinoceros_!" Kate cried out.

 **『** **Eve LP: 4700 - 2100, Hand: 2** **』**

Kate glanced at the card in her hand and took a deep breath before turning toward Eve with a big smile on her face. "Seems like I needed a bit more fire power for this one. Now, at the end of my turn _Ammolite Moloch_ 's attack returns to two thousand and three hundred. Your move girl!"

But nobody expected the next thing that happened. Eve who was at the losing side of this duel raised her head and titled it to the side in a cute manner as a very small smile lighted up her features and she put two fingers on the top of her deck. All live long she was trained to duel in order to survive and kill, so to be able to enjoy the game like this was a completely new experience for her. Kate was also on a different league than any of the training instructors that she went against in the past; this girl was stronger, Eve could feel the strength of a bullet in Kate's dueling and that excited her to no end.

She wanted to win this duel.

No!

She needed to win this duel!

 **『** **Turn 4 [Eve] LP: 2100, Hand: 3** **』**

"You really should have used the chance I gave you last turn to defeat me." Eve spoke softly, also whispering. "Because now I know your style of dueling and how to counter it. No hard feelings, but I'm going to win the duel during this turn!"

* * *

 **I planned for Eve to use her original summoning method in this chapter, but because I prefer to limit my chapters to just 9-12 pages and this already reached the limit AFTER I cut out five pages, guess that it will have to wait until next time T-T**

 **Who am I kidding? Althought they won't make their official appearance until next chapter I'm presenting you Aberrant Summon and Transcendent Summon by using monsters that haven't yet appeared in the story.**

* * *

 _Anyway, first I will start with the Aberrant Monster and Summoning or as I like to call them: "The reason why Link Summon won't be used in this story"!_

 _ **Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E [Light/Thunder/Aberrant/Effect/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2200]**_

 _ **2 monsters + "Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing" + 1 "Thundecture Code" Spell Card**_

 _ **Effect: Once while this card is face-up on the field: You can target cards in any Graveyard(s), up to the number of face-up cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone; return them to the hand. If a face-up card you control is sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 monster from your Graveyard, but it cannot attack your opponent directly. If this card leaves the field, activate 1 "Thundecture" Continuous Spell or Trap Card directly from your Deck.**_

 _So as you may have noticed by the example Aberrant Summoning is the act of Summoning an Aberrant Monster from the Extra Deck sending the requisite Aberrant Materials on your side of the Field to the Graveyard, as listed on the Aberrant Monster itself._

 _All Aberrant Monsters require Monster Cards + Spell/Trap Cards as they are a special Extra Deck monsters that are treated as both Monster Cards and Spell Cards and can only exist in the Spell/Trap Zone!_

 _Because Aberrant Monsters are partially Spells they don't have Level/Rank._

 _Aberrant Monsters are treated as complete Monsters only while in the Extra Deck. While on the field and Graveyard they are treated as Spell Cards._

 _Aberrant Monsters can attack and be attacked, however because they are partially Spells Aberrant Monsters cannot be destroyed by monster destroying cards like Trap Hole and Raigeki, however they can be destroyed by Spell/Trap destroying cards like Mystical Space Typhoon._

 _Finally, Aberrant Monsters can still be summoned if cards like Spell Canceller and Anti-Spell Fragrance are on the field, however, if a card that negates the effects of Spell Cards is in play (like the aforementioned Spell Canceller) the Aberrant Monsters will have their effects negated._

* * *

 _Next up is my personal favorite, Transcendent Summon which got used in the original version of this story under the name Awakening Summon._

 _ **CodESPer-Ally Lunatic Accel [GG: 6/Dark/Psychic/Transcendent/Effect/ATK: 2500/DEF: 1800]**_

 _ **"CodESPer-Player Accel Driver" + 1 monster**_

 _ **Effect: This card can be treated as a Level 6 monster when used for a Transcendent Summoned.**_

 _ **· Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can use 2 of this card's Grade Gauges to target 1 monster in any Graveyard(s); return it to the hand.**_

 _ **· You can use 3 of this card's Grade Gauges; Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Psychic-Type monster from your Deck or Banished Zone.**_

 _ **· Once per turn, during either player's turn, when your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card that targets a monster that you control: You can use 4 of this card's Grade Gauges and banish 1 face-up Psychic-Type monster on your field; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card, then you can Set it to your field.**_

 _ **· You can use 6 of this card's Grade Gauges: Banish all face-up cards on the field with an ESP Counter, expect this card,**_ ** _then this card gains 200 ATK for each, until the end of this turn._**

 _So, for the ruling, to Transcendent Summon you need to use the requisite number of Transcendent Materials listed on the Transcendent Monster, provided the total number of Transcendent Material monsters and the Level, Rank and/or Grade Gauge of those monsters matches exactly the Grade Gauge of that Transcendent Monster. So in Lunatic Accel's case, as it requires only two monsters you cannot use more or less. Since we don't know Accel Driver's Level if its a Level/Rank/Grade 1 monster then the other one will need to be Level/Rank/Grade 5; if its Level/Rank/Grade 2 then the others is going to be Level/Rank/Grade 4, 3 + 3 equals 6 and so on!_

 _Next, Transcendent monsters have Grade Gauge instead of Level/Rank. Also, Transcendent monsters can be used as materials for a Transcendent Summoning as they don't require the materials used to have Level._

 _Transcendent monsters have effects that require the use of their Grade Gauge. And since the most for most of them is different you need to be very careful about using their effects as you may end up not having enough Grades for using the effect than you need, when you need it. But don't worry as Transcendent Monsters regain 1 Grade Gauge during the Standby Phase of their controller's turn and when they destroy a monster by battle._

 _If Transcendent Monsters are summoned by a different way from a Transcendent Summon their Grade Gauge will be empty. In other words if you revive a Transcendent Monster with Monster Reborn it would have a Grade Gauge of 0._

 _Transcendent monsters can't have more Grade Gauge than given on their cards, in other words The Grade Gauge 6 Lunatic Accel can't have more than 6 Grade Gauge expect with the effect of another card._

* * *

 **And finally, we got to the end of this! Yay! Writing this chapter took me nearly a week, mostly because my driving course so happens to directly overlay with my writting hours and when I get back from it the only thing I can think of was how the instructor screamed: "Slow down! Slow down!"**

 **Like, dude chill out a bit. I may be driving fulls speed toward a truck, but that doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm doing -_-**

 **Anyway, here is the A/N for this chapter!**

 **So, first there isn't that much to cover here expect the third protagonist of the story aka Kate appeared. Then** **there are two great reviews to respond to. But before going to them, I want to say something about Arata's deck. Like, you may be wondering why did I use Psychic-Type monsters of all things. Well, the truth is that the very first idea that I got when making his deck was for it to be Zombie or Fiend-Type, but then there were a few reason that stopped me from doing so.**

 **First and most important reason was that a Fiend or Zombie deck would ruin the consistency with my Card Game Waifu T-T**

 **Oh, there is also the fact that Psychic-Type monsters seem... closer to Arata's character and personality... but c'mon, dude, stop that, you are forcing it.**

 **Now, jumping to the reviews, I will start with** _Master Of Anime224_ **'s.**

 **I'm not going to copy-paste your review like a complete d*ck and instead I will just move to commenting on it. First, I'm happy that you actually like Arata's character. I probably had put more effor on his personality that I did on the rest of this story, really xD**

 **As for the world-building, I'm still working on that, but I don't want to just put it all at once. I prefer doing it** **smoothly and slowly. As for beta readers, I used to have** silvernet **to beta another of my stories and that helped me alot in figuring out how to write stories in English. As for Saivar, well, the first 5 pages that I had to delete to make space for the duel were literally about him, so... Yes, there is more to his character than being angry at people.**

 **Thanks alot for the helpful critism and I will try my best to improve my world-building and scene-setting as much as I can. Also, for the story being set in Bulgaria, but mentioning the UK... Well... I will be honest. When I started this story I gave like, zero shit about the location so when I had to later name the country and such... Everything f*cked up O_o**

 **Now to** _ThatLoneAvenger_ **'s**

 **I'm not sure if you have seen the original version, but I would like to say that I had changed my username a few months ago xD**

 **Anyway, will skip the introduction and go directly to Zayne and the reason behind the lack of duels in this story. The biggest problem that I got with Zayne was that my readers are thinking that he is the rival in this story, but he isn't. Zayne is an average duelist (at best). If anything he is the Sawatari of this story. As for the duels, well, the reason for the lack of dueling was because I wanted to focus more on building the plot and characters of the story before moving to the fun part.**

 **And yes, the: "** **power of boners is stronger" actually** **sums up what Arata's "feelings" toward Eve really are. Hormones. But only if we talk about the time before he gets killed.**

 **Btw, the duel between Eve and Arata ws Fluffal vs Raidraptor, so just... Go watch Arc-V. No, really, I really don't want to make that duel because of how long it would end as 0_0**

 **So, thanks for the advices you gave me and I hope that in the future I will be able to improve my work :)**

 **That's it! I have nothing else to say. Well, maybe I do.**

 **I want to ask you, the readers; what are your thoughts about Eve and Kate's Decks? Do you like my original summoning methods and do you think that there is a way for me to improve them? Do you think that I should make a new cards section or should I keep them in the chapter for easy access?**

 **I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter and 'till then!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


	8. Thunder Queen

**After more than a year and two months, I'm back from the death! *Put Eve's unenthusiastic scream scream here* I know what you guys are thinking, but I got an excuse as to why it too me so long to write this chapter. You see, I just lost interest in this story.**

 **...**

 **...**

 **Well, I never said that it was a good excuse, did I? Anyway, here is the final of the duel from last chapter and the reason why I'm talking to you guys here and not at the end as I usually do is... there are several callbacks to things that happened previously (mainly Chapter 7) so if your memories from a year and two months ago is foggy, you should check that first.**

* * *

"You really should have used the chance I gave you last turn to defeat me." Eve spoke softly, almost whispering. "Because now I know your style of dueling and how to counter it. No hard feelings, but I'm going to win the duel during this turn!"

She could see it; the path to victory was within reach and she knew what she had to do in order to achieve it! Despite how skilled Kite might have been, she was obviously underestimating Eve by leaving only her two Fusion Monsters and Field Spell without any sort of protection, just a boost of 500 extra attack points.

"I play _**Thundecture Exposure**_!" Eve said, activating the spell card that she just drew. "With this spell, I can revive any number of Thundecture monsters from my graveyard or banished zone as long as I pay six hundred points for each! Come back, _Thundecture Drone – Knight (Lv.5, ATK: 2300)_ and _Thundecture Drone – Centrious (Lv.3, ATK: 1000)_!"

* * *

 **Thundecture Exposure (Spell) Normal**

 **Special Summon any number of "Thundercture" monsters from your Graveyard or Banished Zone. Then, you lose 600 Life Points for each monster Summoned by this effect. Those monsters cannot attack during this turn.**

* * *

 **『** **Eve LP: 2100 – 1200** → **900** **』**

"Next, I use _Thundecture Code – Faenar_ 's effect to reduce _Centrious_ ' attack by eight hundred and destroy your field Spell!" Electricity flew into Eve's drone and it fired a red laser toward Kate's card meaning that it was no longer in play.

 **Terrally Ammolite Moloch, ATK: 2300 – 500** → **1800**

 **Terrally Almandine Rhinoceros ATK: 2600 - 500** → **2100**

"Nice one." Kate praised her opponent before she reached into the Graveyard to take a card from there. "But since my Terrally Terrablast was destroyed, its effect lets me add Terrally Sanctuary from my grave to the hand, so eventually you just helped me replace my field spells once more."

"That's true, but you can't activate a field spell during my turn without a card effect." Eve pointed out. "And currently, the only cards you control are two monsters, none of which was the capabilities to do what I just said, so in the end not getting a better protection for your cards is going to be the reason for your defeat in this duel."

"Your monsters can't attack." Kate pointed out. "You could probably summon a new monster with them, but that would be all, right? How do you plan to reduce my life from seven thousand to zero in one move?"

"Don't forget that she still has two cards in her hand!" Arata called from the side, watching the two girls duel. "You really shouldn't be talking before you know what else your opponent might have under their sleeves."

"That's true." Amelin nodded in agreement to what Arata said. "With the current level of the effects that today's cards have, even just one single card could lead to massive combos, so you should always be prepared for the most unexpected thing to happen."

"Since you mentioned unexpected things happening, I'm going to show you all something really unexpected." Eve said, catching everyone's attention. She put her hand on the table, pressing her fingers against all four cards that were currently on her side of the field. "Now I'm going to perform an Aberrant Summon! By sending _Thundecture Drone – Knight_ , _Thundecture Drone – Centrious_ , _Thundecture Code – Faenar_ and _Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing_ to the graveyard I can special summon _**Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E**_ from my extra deck in the spell and trap zone!"

A small and young woman with lightning-blue eyes and white hair, which tied into two coils at each side of her head with a small crown resting right over her forehead, landed on the field. Her body was covered by a white dress with two bolts on the sides of her waist and six more on the back. The skirt was made of two parts, with the first one, reaching down to her knees and being white like the rest of the outfit, while the second one was black and see-through, reaching all the way to her bare feet. The dress' sleeves were made from the same dark material, which showed her delicate arms and the small bolts on the back of her wrist, suggesting about the princess' not completely human appearance.

* * *

 **Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E [Light/Thunder/Aberrant/Effect/** **ATK: 2700** **/DEF: 2200]**

 **2 monsters + "Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing" + 1 "Thundecture Code" Spell Card**

 **Effect: Once while this card is face-up on the field: You can target cards in any Graveyard(s), up to the number of face-up cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone; return them to the hand. If a face-up card you control is sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 monster from your Graveyard, but it cannot attack your opponent directly. If this card leaves the field, activate 1 "Thundecture" Continuous Spell or Trap Card directly from your Deck.**

* * *

"What. The. Hell. Is this?" Good thing that Arata wasn't drinking anything because if he did, he would have spilled it all on the floor.

"A new summoning method." Amelin leaned against the cash deck. "It's sort of like the Transcendent Summon that I mentioned earlier. I'm a bit surprised that you know about Transcendent, but not about Aberrant. It seems like your source of card news aren't as reliable as they used to be, eh?"

Arata looked back at the man and smiled a little silly. He wasn't pain attention to all of the news about Konami's game, only those who were in effect for his region. In that case, it would appear that the Aberrant Summon was still an OCG exclusive unlike the Transcendent Summon which was first implemented in the TCG.

"Next, _Thundecture Code – Faenar_ 's effect lets me return _Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing_ to the hand and then I will activate it! Once per turn, _Queen's Blessing_ allows me to add a Thundecturemonster to my hand. I add _**Thundecture Drone – Miner**_ and normal summon it!"

A slender robot with a body made from rusted metal appeared on the field. A single blue eyes glowed on the center of its head and a large drill was put in place of its right hand and with jackhammer parts of its shoulder.

* * *

 **Thundecture Drone – Miner [LV: 4/Light/Thunder/Effect/ATK:** **1400** **/DEF: 1800]**

 **Effect: If this card is Normal Summoned, you can add 1 "** _ **Thundecture**_ **" Continuous Spell/Trap Card from your Graveyard to the hand. If this card is Special Summoned, you can add 1 "** _ **Thundecture**_ **" Continuous Spell/Trap Card from your deck to the hand.**

* * *

"Miner's effect lets me add _Thundecture Code – Faenar_ to my hand, then I will activate it!" Kate bit her lower lip watching Eve continue with her moves, putting her spell cards back into play. "I now use _Thundecture Code – Faenar_ 's effect to reduce Miner's attack by eight hundred and destroy _Terrally Almandine Rhinoceros_."

Kite took the Fusion Monster off the field and put it in her Graveyard. She couldn't believe it, but there was actually a real chance for Eve to end the whole duel in one turn now that she knew what the Thundecture duelist's secret weapon was.

"I'm going Aberrant Summon again!" Eve took _Thundecture Drone – Miner_ and _Thundecture Code – Faenar_ putting them into her Graveyard, then took another card from her Extra Deck. "Come forth, _**Thundecture Servant – Rigitio-7AN**_!"

A white butler-like monster with yellow lightning designs on its legs and shoulders appeared on the field. Its face was white without eyes or mouth, just two lightnings shooting to the side like horns. Its arms were comically large and had electricity coming out of the elbows, traveling down to the wrists, where they transformed into a pair of blades.

* * *

 **Thundecture** **Servant** **–** **Rigitio** **-** **7AN** **[Light/Thunder/Aberrant/Effect/** **ATK:** **18** **00** **/DEF:** **16** **00]**

 **1** **Level 4 or lower** **monster + "** **Thundecture Code – Faenar** **"**

 **Effect:** **If you don't control a "Thundecture Queen" monster this monster can't activate its effects. This card can declare up to 2 attacks on monsters during each Battle Phase. If this card attacks an opponent monster, all monster your opponent controls lose 600 ATK at the end of the Damage Step. If a "Thundecture Queen" monster(s) you control would be destroyed, you can destroy this card instead.**

* * *

"A second one." Kate muttered softly watching the board before her. More and more monsters were starting to show up and her worry increased with every passing moment. But at the same time, she was smiling on the inside, she needed strong duelists and Eve had so far proven herself to be capable. If she also managed to do as she swore and won in this turn, then she might prove herself to be even better than Kate expected.

"Next, the effect of _Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E_ lets me special summon a monster from my graveyard since a card left the field. I revive _Thundecture Drone – Miner (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)_!" the robot-like monster raised once more in front of the two Aberrant monsters. " _Thundecture Drone – Miner_ 's effect lets me add _**Thundecture Code – Criada**_ to my hand and next I activate it!"

* * *

 **Thundecture Code – Criada (Spell) Continuous**

 **Once per turn: You can target 2 face-up monsters on the field; halve the first target's ATK, and if you do, the second target gains the lost ATK. These changes last until the end of the turn. When this card is activated, you can add 1 "** **Thundecture Code – Queen** **" Spell/Trap Card from you Deck to you hand.**

* * *

"I activate Criada's effect to halve Miner's attack and increase Rigitio's attack by the same amount." Eve pointed at her two monsters. This meant that Miner dropped to 700 and Rigitio increased to 2500. "And now, I will use _Thundecture Drone – Miner_ , _Thundecture Code –_ _Queen's Blessing_ and _Thundecture Code – Criada_ for another Aberrant Summon! Come out, _**Thundecture**_ _ **Servant**_ _ **–**_ _ **Regalia-MA10**_!"

The hologram of a maid-like monster in white clothes with yellow thunder-like drawings over her waist and shoulders appeared on the field. A triangular helmet with lightings shooting out of the back like long hair was sitting on top of her skin-colored robotic head with black metal gauntlets tied tightly around her wrists and electricity streaming from the bottom of the monster's high-heels.

* * *

 **Thundecture** **Servant** **–** **Regalia-MA10** **[Light/Thunder/Aberrant/Effect/** **ATK:** **18** **00** **/DEF:** **16** **00]**

 **1** **"Thundecture** **"** **monster + "** **Thundecture Code – Criada** **"** **1 "Thundecture Code" Spell Card**

 **Effect:** **If you don't control a "Thundecture Queen" monster this monster can't activate its effects. Once per turn, you can target 1 card on the field: Destroy that target. This card can't attack during the turn you activated this effect. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 2 face-up monsters on the field; halve the first target's ATK, and if you do, the second target gains the lost ATK until the end of this turn. If a "Thundecture Queen" monster(s) you control would be destroyed, you can destroy this card instead.**

* * *

"Next, the effect of _Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E_ lets me special summon a monster from my graveyard since a card left the field. I revive _Thundecture Drone – Centrious (Lv.3, ATK: 1000)_!" Kate sighed. There was no point in continuing the duel since Eve already won, but she wasn't going to forfeit because her opponent earned the right to end the duel with her own hand. "Finally, I will use _Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E_ 's other effect to return _Thundecture Drone – Miner_ , _Thundecture Drone – Knight_ and _Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing_ to my hand!"

"So that was what you were going to do, huh?" Kate looked at Eve and smiled at her. "You are really powerful."

"Thanks." Eve nodded and took _Thundecture Drone – Centrious_ off the field. "I tribute _Centrious_ and activate its effect to special summon _Thundecture Drone – Knight (Lv.5, ATK: 2300)_. Lastly, I activate Regalia's effect to destroy your last monster at the cost of Regalia's attack for the turn. Now, _Thundecture Drone – Knight_ , _Thundecture Servant – Rigitio_ and _Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko_ attack you directly!"

 **『** **Kate LP: 7000 – 2300** → **4700 – 2500** → **2200 – 2700** → **0, Hand: 0** **』**

"Searching, summoning, recycling, you did all of that perfectly." Kate took all of her cards and put them back into her deck. "I could definitely use someone like you in my team, up to take the spot?"

Eve looked away from the girl and glanced toward Arata from the corner of her eyes. She thought deeply about it, she toured half the globe to hide away from Saivar and her past and joining a dueling tournament would be a huge sign where they could find her, more so after Saivar already showed up in front of her once. There was also that Arata declined the same offer and Eve disliked being surrounded by strangers. Yes of course when she invaded the boy's house, he was a stranger to her too, but there was a difference. His father was the one who send her and she trusted completely in Mr. Godbell's judgment – it wasn't wrong so far.

Ok, it did cost Arata's life once, but there was hardly a way that anyone could have predicted such an outcome, right? Right?

"My apologies, but I will have to decline." Eve stepped back and walked over to the cash table where Arata and Amelin were watching the duel from. She sat down next to the boy and looked back at Kate with her usual poker face expression still on.

The Terrally used had a bit of trouble processing what Eve told her. How could anyone with this kind of dueling skills decline an offer like this one without a second thought? Should Kate point out the prizes that first place would win to see if Eve would have a change of heart? No, looking at the Thundecture duelist, she didn't seem to be interested in such things - it sucked to find someone with the talent that you need, only for them to decline helping you out.

Kate shook her head, no point to try and push herself onto Eve, it would only make her look desperate, and maybe even a bit like some creep. She collected the rest of her cards from the table, shuffled her deck and then headed back into the storage room without saying another word. Amelin followed his daughter's movement with his eyes, he knew how much that tournament meant for her, but he also knew that being obsessed with it wasn't good for her either, so perhaps having two of the best duelists that have entered his shop decline would make her rethink her values.

"I think we made her angry." Arata said after the door of the storage room was closed and Kate couldn't hear them.

"Don't feel bad about it, she will get over it sooner or later." Amelin looked back at the empty tables around the shop.

It wasn't always like that, he remembered times when the place would be filled with your people dueling or buying cards. After Konami's business began more widespread and actual Duel Disk were developed, the wave of customers began to quickly shrink until all that remained were around ten customers. Kate had noticed that this business was starting to fall apart so she believed that if she assembled a good team and won the Trinity Cup Tournament she could advertise for his shop and bring new customers.

"I personally want her to just give up on that tournament all along." Amelin admitted, surprised his two customers. "She became way too obsessed with it, I have caught her several nights in a row staring at her computer doing research on which decks are most common, what are they strong points, weak points, best cards to counter them with and so on. Her lack of sleep started to show up in her school work as well, her grades are still excellent, but she rarely had Bs before and now they are around forty percent of her marks at school."

"A sad story." Arata nodded. It was kind of ironic that she would call him a freak, but at the same time be obsessed so much with a tournament that she would waste her own health on it. "We will be leaving then, homework won't write itself and I also need to buy something for dinner."

Amelin nodded and turned to walk into the storage room and check on his daughter. "Stay safe." He told Arata.

"Right back at ya." The boy smiled and opened the front door, gesturing for Eve to walk out first. She raised an eyebrow in confusion as to why he would open the door if he won't walk out first, but complied and exited.

Arata closed the door behind himself and the two teens found themselves standing on the street once again. The boy trembled a little at the change of temperature – the cold October winds were a much unpleasant changed from the warm of the card shop. The sky was filled with clouds that hid away the warming light of the sun.

"Where are we going next?" Eve asked in her usual monotone voice.

"To buy some food obviously." Arata answered, but didn't put a 'duh' at the end sensing that it wouldn't be appropriate to do so. He took Eve's hand into his own and gestured toward the street that lead upward; since the city was located on a hill, not all streets were on the same above sea height. "We will go up, there are a lot of stores. After we finish, we will take a bus home."

Of course, they could just walk home as well, it would take just around 20 minutes, but with the sky being covered by clouds, it could start raining soon. He remembered how most of his summer break was spent inside during the storms that often hit the city, it would be only natural for the autumn's weather to be even more extreme than the summer.

Eve just gave a nod as to showcase that she approved of the plan. She let Arata lead her through the city and quietly observed the buildings that they passed, trying to draw a map with their locations inside of her head. Which of the streets was leading toward which of the buildings that she had seen before, which ones remained unexplored, she tried to remember all of those things and the surprising thing was that she was actually managing to keep up. It was one of the moments when the training she underwent under Saivar's supervision actually paid off without leaving a pile of corpses behind her.

"What would you want me to make you for dinner?" Arata eyed his companion.

Eve's mind turned away from the mental map that she was drawing and looked at the boy for a moment before returning to what she was doing answering with a simple: "Something tasty."

Arata took a deep breath, ok then, he could make something tasty – whatever that was from Eve's respective. She hadn't shown to dislike anything that he made so far, so it should be an easy task to please her taste receptors.

Just then, Eve suddenly stopped in her tracks and yanked Arata's hand back. The boy yelped as he was pulled all so suddenly and turned around to look at the amber-eyed girl with a look that was practically asking what was wrong. Eve put a hand on the side of her hips and her eyes traveled down to look at the spot before raising back up to look at her much taller companion. Her amber orbs, as emotionless as they were, had some sort of lively spark in Arata's view, but the boy wasn't sure if it was because of his ability to see deep within her soul, or just his hormones.

Yeah, probably the latter.

"My phone vibrated." Eve's words snapped Arata back from his other thoughts. She pulled it out and showed the screen to him for confirmation that there was an unread message. "I must answer it. Continue on your own, while I wait for you outside."

Arata kept staring in the girl's amber eyes. He didn't want to leave her alone outside while creeps like Saivar were trying to get to her. The boy understood that there wasn't much he could do if someone like that showed up to confront them, and in the likely scenario of a confrontation, the best he could hope for would be that the Reaper's Curse had an infinity revival mode turned on. But in the end, he also had to think realistically, they were outside and in broad daylight, nobody in their right mind would be stupid enough to try anything, right?

"Fine then." Arata sighed and moved to grab Eve's shoulders catching her full attention. "But if anything happen, if you see something or someone suspicious, come inside as fast as possible, ok?"

Eve nodded. Of course, she could defend herself, she had her deck with herself; it was filled with monsters to transform into using Soul-Fusion, something she would prefer to not do in such an open area. Seeing that Eve was willing to cooperate, Arata smiled and walked into the nearest shop to buy some food. As soon as he was gone, she looked around for a place with less people.

She found an empty street that she had noticed while Arata leaded her. There were several cars parked at both ends with a third of each car was raised onto the curb and most shops were closed with their windows covered by window blinds, which left her assume that they were currently closed. Eve took out her phone and dialed the number that just messaged her. Looking left and right, she put the device close to her ear and waited for the other side to answer the call.

"That was quick." A deep male voice answered.

"Who am I talking with?" Eve asked sharply.

"Team fourteen, ID seven, eight, zero, two." Eve thought about it for a moment. She had no idea what the man was telling her.

"I don't understand." She admitted and a low chuckle was heard from the other side of the line, making her pout. "That's not funny."

"Sorry, I didn't knew that you weren't introduced to our ID codes yet, my name is Zack Smith, but you remember that, right?"

Indeed, Eve remembered that name, but she was awe-stuck to hear it again. If it wasn't the phone distorting his voice she would have definitely recognized one of the people that saved her from the awful laboratory where she was born and raised. Her heart fluttered with happiness that her expressionless face and monotone tone couldn't reflect. It was sad that she was unable to show her emotions freely due to the way they messed up her brain.

"I remember indeed, you were one of the people that came with Mr. Godbell." She replied before glancing around to make sure no one else was listening to her conversation. "Where is Mr. Godbell? Can I talk with him too?"

At first, there was no response from the other side of the line, then she heard Zack take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but he isn't here. A week after sending you off, most of our team was sent on a missing that I can't talk about while he was sent to find some shit about evil spirits."

"I see." She was disappointed to her that her rescuer wasn't there to talk with her. "What's the reason to contact me?"

"Going straight to the point now, aren't we?" Eve rolled her eyes, she didn't have much time for chatter either. "We know that the Grand Order has send their best to try and capture you. A group of our own were sent to come and protect you. Currently I'm holding a newspaper with an article about how their bodies were found in Danube. There are news about another team being assembled, so you should get support in the near future. I'm calling you to remind you to stay vigilant and to send you a message from Godbell himself."

A message from Godbell? Eve was feeling nervousness inside her chest after hearing those words. The man wasn't fond of leaving messages or saying goodbye - probably a reason as to why his son turned out like that – so that was completely out of character for him.

"What is he saying?" She finally asked the question that was making her worry.

"He asked you to look after his son." Eve felt a bit of her heart break, not for any other reason, but because she already failed to do so once and it cost Arata a lot. "He is that the kid definitely won't leave you alone, even if there are mass murders on your tail, so his only request is to do the same and guard the kid like how he is guarding you."

"I understand…" She squeeze her phone tightly, thankfully she wasn't using full strength, or it would have been broken to pieces. "I will look after him… That's a promise."

"I know that as a Guardian you have far more important things to worry about that the life of some brat, but I'm going to share with you a small secret about Godbell." Eve held back her breath, listening intensively to what Zack was going to tell her.

"His son is the last thing that Godbell has to keep his smile." At these words' the heard of the emotionless doll just… broke.

"I understand." She replied, somehow managing to keep her monotone tone. "I won't let anything bad happen to him, goodbye."

With these final words, the call ended and the amber-eyed beauty put her phone back into the pocket. She reached out, grabbing onto the nearby streetlamp and looked down. It hurt, it hurt so much that because wanting to keep her abilities hidden from Arata, he had to die and some dark curse was the only thing that kept him existing - not even living. The loud screams and the look filled with suffering that she witnessed last night were already making her believe that this second life he was granted would come to a much higher cost that it deserved. What better would be a lifetime filled with torment compared to death? As someone who never felt the cold embrace, she probably didn't have the right to compare the life with the afterlife.

What better was she compared to Saivar? He trained her to fight, to defend herself and kill those who endanger her without any mercy. In return, she could have effortlessly taken his head, not even a tiny bit of remorse would have stuck her if she did so, but instead her choice was to stand at the side and watch him murder someone who gave her home, took care of her needs and seemed happy to just be standing next to her side. If someone had the ability to stop a tragedy but didn't, were they any better than the ones who caused it? Was there any difference between her and Saivar? Or were they both killers that would burn in hell once their time came?

A black car stopped a few feet away from where the girl was standing, but she paid no attention to it, her mind was somewhere else. She didn't sense the two bodies approaching her until it was too late, and they jumped on her, one hand holding her mouth to make sure that she wouldn't be able to scream, the two attackers also caught her arms and began to pull her toward the open door of the black car. Trying to scream into the hand that kept her voice form coming out and at the same time kicking at her attackers, Eve tried to pull one of her arms down toward the pocket where she held her deck.

A single touch - that would be all that's going to take for her to Soul-Fusion with a monster, but at the last moment, she felt something was off. The physique, strength and skill of her assailants was off, they didn't feel like a group of extremely skilled men send to capture, but just as some 17-19 years old boys. Eve stopped trying to grab onto one of her cards and let them drag her to the car instead, willing to play along until she learned what the heck was going on. If the Grand Order was really naïve enough to send their youngest and most unskilled units to try and catch her, they were all going to be send back in body bags.

Nobody was there to see when the girl was getting dragged into the black car, nor when it drove off leaving no trace to where it went. Five minutes after the whole ordeal, Arata came out of the shop and looked around for Eve, only to be unable to spot her anywhere. Cold sweat ran down his face like bullets as the boy ran around and shouted the missing girl's name, but no response came back. Did somebody really kidnapped her while he was shopping for eight minutes?

"Eve!" Arata shouted, ignoring the looks that others were giving him. "EVE!" But no matter how many times he would repeat that name, the girl he was looking for never answered back.

"Shit!" The boy cursed and slammed his fist against the wall of a building. He had tried to call her as well, but it said that Eve's phone was turned off. Gritting his teeth, he looked down knowing that there was only one thing he could do; go to the nearest police station and report what happened.

He gritted his teeth, the nearest police station was at fifteen minutes from his current whereabouts, there were busses driving through the city all day long, but catching one that drove toward where he wanted to head might take time. In the fashion of someone who lost their mind, Arata made an extremely stupid decision that he wasn't going to regret and ran for the police station.

* * *

"Ah… Ah…"Ok, he was definitely going to regret that decision. Using whatever sort of strength was left into his legs, Arata slowly dragged himself toward the front doors of the police station. His face was red and covered in sweat, he wasn't the sporting type and running three miles took a lot from his strength. Unable to stand upside anymore and feeling like he was about to throw up, Arata let himself collapse sideways onto a bench. He didn't know which idiot had chosen to put the playground not far away from where the police station was located, but he didn't mind it as long as there was somewhere for him to sit down and catch his breath.

The familiar sound of Arata's phone ringing came from the pocket of the boy's pants and he pulled it out to look at who was calling. A mix of hope and extreme worry shot through his body once he saw the number that was calling him – it was Eve. Without wasting a second thought, Arata clicked the accept call button.

"Where are you, Eve?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, but your girlfriend isn't able to answer at the moment." A chill ran down Arata's spine. It was a voice all too familiar for his ears, someone who he didn't expect to hear from so soon.

"Zayne…" This was the last person whom he expected to kidnap Eve, but at the same time, Arata wasn't surprised to learn that this bastard would do something like that. "What the heck are you doing, freak? You couldn't beat me to a duel, so you went this far!?"

"Sometimes you have to take risks if you want to win." Arata gritted his teeth; as if kidnapping someone could be considered anything but psychopathic behavior. "As much as I would love to talk with you, I called you just to give a warning. This is between us, if you try to get the police or anyone else involved, you will never see the cutie ever again. Or maybe you will in a body bag - I haven't chosen which one to go with yet."

"Keep your hands off her, freak." Arata was trying extremely hard to not let his anger take over in front of the police station. "Do you really think that you could get away with pulling something like this? The cops are going to hunt you down, you know that, right?"

"It's funny to me that you think you can just walk around the police station like an upstanding citizen." Zayne replied from the other end of the line. "We are both marked already, there is nothing for me to lose now; do you get it?"

"What are you talking about?" Arata could swear to god, he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs to this bastard. If only he knew where to find him, he would go there and break him to a bloody pulp before taking Eve back. Even if the police put him behind bars for that, it would still be worth it.

"Don't worry, you will learn. I'm going to call you again tonight, around ten o'clock. Also… make sure to watch the news, ok? You might learn a few things." Arata slammed his fist against his knee and opened his mouth to retort, but the call ended before he could.

"Damn it!" Arata grabbed his head. He wasn't sure if it was better or worse that Zayne got his hands on Eve instead of Saivar. On one hand, she wasn't in the arms of a killer, but on the other, her current captor seemed to have gotten to the deep end. A crazy person was always more dangerous than a murder because unlike the later, you could never predict what someone who already lost their mind would dare to do next.

He had no choice but to trust Zayne's word that Eve won't get hurt. He could try to put some sense in that freak's head when he calls him next, but Arata was worried that the girl might end up hurt if he said something that he shouldn't. The boy turned his head to look at the police station once more. He should do it, screw what people in movies do, this was real life and a human being was in serious danger!

…But how exactly did Zayne knew when to call him and tell him not to get the police involved? The psycho already proved that he was crazy enough to be stalking people. "I'm going to break your face when I find you." Arata whispered and stood up, turning his back to the police station, he choose to go home and do as Zayne instructed him to do.

* * *

Nighttime came, the streets were empty with just the street lamps and the light coming from a few windows illuminating the city's streets. The night weather became even colder that it was a few nights ago, even his jacket wasn't enough to keep Arata warm and he rubbed his hands together, breathing into them while walking through the already sleeping city. He couldn't just stay at home, sitting and waiting for a phone call, so the boy spent his day roaming the streets aimlessly, trying to think things through.

The boy unlocked the front door of his house and walked inside – it was dark. Not even the lights of the kitchen were turned on, everything was like how he left it in the morning, with the expectation of someone who was missing. Arata threw his jacket and the bag of food - which he carried around the whole day - on the sofa with a deep breath. The boy himself collapsed next to the items, he was so drained out both physically and mentally that, if it wasn't the thought about the upcoming call keeping him awake, he could have fell asleep long time ago.

"Did the past really choose to bait me in the ass now?" Arata asked no one in particular. He reached out and grabbed the remote, turning on the TV. Just in time, the news were about to start soon. "Just what are you up to?" Why Zayne did told him to watch the news?

Arata didn't want to ponder onto these questions for long; his phone rang again and he picked it up. Just like last time, a call from Eve's number.

"Are you watching the news?" That was the first thing that Zayne told him. "What are they reporting about at the moment?"

"A river's overflowing." Arata responded hastily.

"Good, so we are both watching the same channel then." Arata narrowed his eye, what was the point of all that?

"Listen, I don't know what sort of creepy game you are trying to play on me, but if you want me to take part, then let me head Eve's voice. I want to make sure that she is unharmed!" That was all he really wanted, to know that the girl wasn't harmed because of his mistakes.

"Fine, give me a moment." Arata could vaguely hear footsteps from the other side of the line and then a loud yelp that made him winch in pain, even though he wasn't there in person. "Here you go! I give you a minute!"

"Arata?" The familiar monotone voice made the boy's heart to beat faster.

"Eve? Are you alright?"

"Yes." The girl on the other side of the line confirmed. "I'm alright, they haven't harmed me. Who are these people?"

"It's too much for me to explain right now." Arata sighed, it was too much to explain at any time, really. He didn't want anyone else to know what he was doing during the night, the illegal duels and such. "Just don't do anything to provoke them, ok? I'm going to get to you as soon as possible, that's a promise."

"Aw, how heartwarming!" Zayne interrupted them. "But if you want to see her again, you will have to do as I tell you! Tomorrow, we are going to have a duel, exact time and location you will learn after school hours, understand?"

"Are you really going to bet everything just for a single duel!?" Arata yelled at the phone. "If you are so desperate, let's face at the area and duel there!"

"Hush, now. It's starting, look at the news right now." Arata gritted his teeth, that thing with the news again, just what the heck was it supposed to mean!?

"News about the underground dueling network that was discovered after a coordinate police campaign of the police forces in East Europe. Although network that encompasses six countries was shut down and many of its organizations were caught, the police warns citizens to be vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary. If you have information about people who were involved in illegal duels, even as just duelists or spectators, we advise you to report to the nearest police station."

His body was cold, no thoughts, no words, Arata had nothing to respond with. The police was looking for him; he was a criminal. He felt like his whole life, all of the bad decisions that he made so far were coming back to haunt him at once and he wasn't sure how to deal with either. His breath halted and his mind paced away from the reality of the situation. His rational thoughts were buried under a pile of various questions fears about what was going to happen next. How was he going to get Eve back and hide from the police?

"We are both already criminals, if the police comes after one of us the other will burn down as well. There is literally nothing for me to lose anymore! My uncle knows the chief of police, so I could get away with this a bit easier than most, but what about you? Do you have anyone to save you?"

Arata knew the answer of Zayne's question, he was alone in this, on one would come to help him out and no one was obliged to do so. He wouldn't be able to both save Eve and escape from the police. It was Game Over.

"We will meet tomorrow." Zayne reminded him one last time and the call ended.

The realization that there was no way out of this game and any of his moves would be fatal stabbed Arata like a knife. The boy collapsed on the ground, his purple eye staring at the TV screen in despair. Unknown to him, that feeling of helplessness that took over him was fueling the curse laid upon his soul and the purple scar that showed under his eyepatch glowed for a moment activating his curse. Arata bit onto his lower lip until it drew blood and collapsed sideways on the floor, holding the left side of his chest in pain. If one who was reborn with a purpose would fail to deliver, then they would face endless torment and suffering.

* * *

 **A/N: Not much to put here honestly, this was my first chapter since fucking forever so what am I supposed to say? Anyway, a lot of things happened in this chapter despite how short it turned out, Arata got himself a lot of trouble to deal with and I can tell you that what's going to happen next chapter might leave a lasting inpact on his character and shape the way he is going to grow.**

 **Also, I would like to, once again, speak about the lack of duels in this story. Of course, this chapter contains the last turn of the... second written duel in this whole story, but I'm planning to change things. Right now, my plans are for the first half of "Season 1" if you might call it this way, to end around chapter 13-15 and so far I got planned 4 duels that would happen during these chapters. Not much I understand, but there are going to be more duelist that they were until now and as I said, those are the ones that are "planned", I might add more, but I definitely won't be cutting out from those that are already planned.**

 **That's all I got to say. Bye now.**

 **Diabolic Tracer Out!**


	9. Debts And Consequences

Six and thirteen minutes in the morning, it was absurd but Arata counted every single minute. The sclera of his left eye was red, his hair was a mess. The boy hadn't gotten a single moment of sleep during the whole night. A part of his curse's effect, every night Arata would feel such extreme and agonizing pain that it would drive him crazy, the first time that it happened Eve was thankfully there and used her powers to make the pain disappear. Despite that after it happened, the boy was unable to fall asleep again, the few minutes of suffering scared his brain so much that it was unable to rest even hours after it happened.

This time however, there was no Eve to stop the curse from taking full force and Arata suffered its absolute might. No matter how much he screamed and cried, the pain wouldn't fade away until sunrise. Suffocation, burning alive, being torn piece by piece, the boy felt the pain of all of these things and much more continuously for almost seven hours. At the last thirteen minutes the torture was so unbearable that Arata was ready to just grab a knife and stab himself in the heart to make it end. He was sure that he would rather commit suicide than suffering the same pain again for another night.

Arata reached out to grab the sofa with one hand and the glass table with the other, using whatever strength was left inside his body to stand up. How did he become so miserable, barely able to keep his balance, his brain was hurting so much for missing yet another night worth of sleep that it felt like somebody smashed it with a sledgehammer. Arata began to slowly climb up the stairs that leaded toward the second floor where his bedroom and the bathroom were located. Leaning against the wall with his right shoulder, the boy was barely able to even raise his legs to make the necessary steps.

Stopping for a moment to take his breath, Arata looked down. It was no good. He was starving since the curse hit him before he could make dinner last night, his body was barely able to drag itself and he was ready to pull out his own brain if that would make the agonizing headache die down. His hands moved on to start and unbutton his shirt, while his legs began to move once again, climbing up one step at a time. It was no good, he would have to just drop his clothes from yesterday on the ground and pick them back up when he gets home, hopefully with Eve beside him.

Arata took a deep breath, managing to make it to the second floor after three minutes of climbing a bunch of stairs, his body was almost completely naked, only his black socks and boxers remained on. Without his clothes on, the numerous purple scars left onto his upper torso after the curse healed his wounds were in full display. Why were they healed like that? Why couldn't they just heal like normal wounds and instead had to leave behind these strange scars?

Arata pushed the door of the bathroom open and walked inside, grabbing onto the sink to support himself. The boy looked at his reflection in the mirror; his face looked so bad that he would chuckle in pity for his image if his brain wasn't killing at the moment. He reached up toward the eyepatch that covered his right eye, why did Eve wanted him to hide it? He grabbed onto the fabric and pulled it off, only to see what exactly made a girl as emotionless as her worried.

"Well shit…" He chuckled. At that point he couldn't even get shocked or horrified. The sclera of his right eye was a very dark shade of purple, and instead of a pupil, there was a white ring inside his iris. Just great, so he would have to use the eyepatch permanently from there on.

"Fuck all of this." Arata pushed himself away from the sink and removed the rest of his clothes before moving toward the shower. Hot water rained down on his body while he closed his eyes and tried to relax for a second.

Why was his life filled with so much shit and misfortune? Losing his mother as a newborn, having to grow up alone because his father didn't care about his existence, getting himself killed by some psychopath, only to be revived with a curse that causes its wielder to suffer pain thousands time worse than death itself every single night of his miserable existence. If that wasn't enough shit, the girl that he had to looked after and protect got kidnapped by some sociopath and the police was on his tail as well!

Was there even something that people called a God, or was it just an image born by their necessary to worship something? Arata didn't believe that there were any immortal deities looking after the world, no creature would be sadistic enough to throw so much suffering at a single person. Arata reached out and stopped the water, then he turned his gaze back toward the mirror above the sink. The boy clenched his fists. What the heck was he doing consoling himself at a time like that?! What happened in the past didn't matter, he had to focus on the present, on saving Eve, on…

Retribution for his own evildoings.

Arata sighed and grabbed a towel, which he wrapped around his waist. He didn't have the damn time to feel sorry about himself, nor the need to. The past was behind him, all that could be done at that point would be for him to keep walking forward, if not for himself, at least for those who would get hurt if he gave up. His fucking father was trusting him to keep a single girl out of trouble, could Arata call himself his son if he failed such a simple task!

"No more failures." Arata told himself. He walked out of the bathroom and into his bedroom to get some clear clothes.

After he put a black shirt, pants and grey socks, the boy ran back down to the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. Taking a bath took around thirty-five minutes, getting to the bathroom in the first place and getting dressed afterward took around ten more minutes. It was nearly seven o'clock in the morning and school would start in eight, he had half an hour to make his breakfast and eat it before he had to leave. Arata stepped back and went over to his school bag to replace his textbooks with the ones that would be needed for today. He opened the bag and paused for a moment, lying inside of it was his Duel Disk with a deck already inside. Zayne wasn't going to just call him over to talk shit and then let him go back home, right? He would want a duel, so Arata would need to keep his Duel Disk and a deck ready for when that psycho call him. Even so…

The boy pulled out his Duel Disk and took the deck to look it over. It was his Speedroid deck, he had dueled with it the most, so Zayne would probably expect it. Arata dropped the cards and thought about his options, he had many decks ready, an Elemental HERO one, Counter Fairies were cancer but he had a deck dedicated to them as well. He liked his Rank 8 spam deck quite a bit as well, but Zayne probably has anticipated the chances for any one of these to show up. The boy tore his gaze away from the cards, looking at the living room, he suddenly remembered something. Of course!

Arata ran into the room and turned to the sofa, his jacket was still where he left it last night with the bag of food put right next to it… Yeah, he probably should have put it into the refrigerator before doing anything else, but with everything that happened last night he completely forget about it. Arata shook his head and took the jacket. He touched the cloth's pockets and there it was! The structure deck that he brought yesterday, there was absolutely no way that Zayne would expect to have to face against something like that, it was a perfect surprise for that psycho. Arata smirked and put the deck into the pocket of his pants then returned back to his other duties.

* * *

"What did you do to her?!" Kate slammed her hand on Arata's desk, earning herself the latter's attention.

The boy looked at his interrogator with tired eyes. Another class had just ended and everyone else already left the room. Knowing that the next class would be Math, Arata didn't expect anyone to come back, so Kata's full attention would be on him for the next ten or so minutes. Just fucking great.

Arata sighed. "I don't know what you are talking about." In fact, he knew that she meant why Eve didn't show at school, but he was trying to play dumb and hoped that by a chance, the girl would let him get away with it.

"What did you do to Eve!?" Kate shouted again and hit his desk, again. Arata looked down at the girl's hand unimpressed by her try to act threatening. With the strength that she was putting behind those slams he wasn't sure how more hits it would take before her wrist breaks.

"I haven't done anything to her, she got sick and can't come today." Arata put his hands on the desk and lied his head on top of them. "It seems that the weather in Japan must have been far too different from the one here for her organism. If you wanted to tell her something, you can say it to me and I'm going to pass it to her."

"I swear if you hurt her I'm going to…" Kate was going to threaten Arata when she suddenly noticed something about him that she was sure wasn't the same as yesterday. "Are you high?"

"Huh?" Kite genuinely surprised Arata with that question. He was called many insults by his classmates through the years, a killer, a psycho; all of them were lies of course, but drug addicted was a new level of low that his public image managed to achieve. "Where the heck did that come from?"

"Your eye is red." Kate said almost disgusted to be in his presence. "Don't tell me… you did something to Eve for a dose!"

"Enough!" Arata yelled at the girl, scaring her with the sudden change in his voice. That was why being a loner wasn't that bad for him, because everyone else had always thought the worst about him. But he was done with that! Before Kate could react, he reached out and grabbed her hand that was resting onto his desk.

"Hey!" The girl yelped and tried to pull away, but he didn't let her to do. "Let go of me or I'm going to scream, you heard me?!"

Arata didn't respond to her threats, he knew that she wouldn't do something like that and even if she did, no one was going to care about her screams anyways. He stepped away from his desk and grabbed her other arms as well, then pushed the girl against the wall. Kate gulped, feeling her body in such a close proximity to that of a boy was embarrassing, even horrifying since the one that was pushing her against the wall was Arata – the boy that everyone else knew was a creep. She wanted to make an angry face and show him that he wasn't intimidating her, but the difference in their size and the cold glare with which he was staring at her from above made her want to crawl into a hole.

"You want to know why my eye is red!? I haven't sleep in two days!" Arata yelled at her. "It's easy for you to stay away from me and call me a freak, a psycho, a drug addict behind my back, isn't it? As a girl who has always gotten everything from her daddy have you thought how a boy who had to take care of himself since the age of four lived like? Do you know what it's like to have never felt a mother's touch?"

"I…" Kate bit her lower lip, was Arata Godbell of all people reading her moral? "The police is going to get to you one day, you know that, right?"

This sentence took Arata aback. He knew that Kate wasn't saying it because she somehow figured about his participation in the illegal duels; she just didn't care about his past and only needed someone to point with a finger at. But even in her ignorance, she still said something that was true, what was the point in trying to hide from the bad things that he did? If he had turned himself in earlier and told the police about Zayne the whole kidnapping plot wouldn't have happened. He was tired of trying to run away from the past and have others get involved because of that. Instead, he should just turn around and face his own demons, accept the consequences of his actions and live or die with them.

Arata let go of Kate's arms and she immediately moved away from him and began to hastily collect her belongings, putting them into her back. She wanted to just get everything and run away before the boy got back to his senses and tried to attack her again. She didn't know what exactly made him stop, but she was too scared to think about it anyways.

"Do you want to know the truth why Eve isn't at school today?" Kate froze in her tracks. She slowly turned her head back and glanced at Arata.

The boy was facing the wall and his back was against the girl. His hands were curled into fists and pressed against the whiteboard. Kate couldn't detect any anger inside his voice, he sounded sad, maybe even pathetic in her eyes. Despite her mind telling her to ignore and run, her senses never really picked on any danger. She didn't want to believe it, but was there a chance that she feared him not because he was dangerous, but because she made up so much stories about him that she began to be the one believing in them?

"Yes." She finally responded. Maybe for the first time ever, she would listen to what Arata had to say before judging him.

Arata turned around and flashed her a small smile. They weren't friends, probably never will be, but that small moment of trust meant the world for him. He took a deep breath and thought where to start explaining. In the end, he figured out that the best place to start would be the very beginning.

"Have you watched the news lately?" He asked her. "They walked about a network of illegal dueling arenas."

"I heard about it." Kate nodded. She was disgusted by how people could be willing to throw their money and safety away to duel at such places when they could instead take part in a tournament. Was it because there the winners were rewarded with a lot of real money instead of booster packs and other stuff like that? She honestly didn't care about their excuses, taking part in such disgusting things was immoral!

"Well, the truth is…" Arata rubbed the back of his head. Admitting it was harder than he thought, a part of him said that it was a horrible idea to entrust Kate with that, but it was already too late for him to turn away. "I was taking place in those illegal duels as well. Now, I really don't know why I did it, what I wanted to prove, but I participate in them, There was another high school duelist as well, his name was Zayne. He isn't from this school, but he knows about me and…"

* * *

"What am I ever doing with my life anymore?" Arata asked himself.

He was sitting on a bench right next to the fountain in the center of the park. It was a place where a lot of kids, young couples and even old ones would come to sit down, watch the leaves of the trees tremble even so slightly against the weak breeze. The kids would usually play with a ball or race with their bikes, but that was only during the spring and the summer. Now it was autumn and people rarely came to visit this place, why would they? To watch the naked branches of the trees shake under the might of the cold northern wind?

Arata leaned his back against the bench and his thoughts returned back to his talk with Kate. He was actually afraid what she might choose to do after he told her the truth. Back then she didn't seem to be trusting him in the slightest, there were various sentiments that he noticed inside her eyes during their talks: dislike, frustration, fear, guilt, but nothing in the way she looked at him suggested that she had faith in him.

So all he could do was hope that she wasn't going to call the cops on him. But since Eve's whereabouts were still unknown, Kate probably wouldn't risk throwing the police at him.

Arata pulled out his phone and looked at the screen, school had already ended so why wasn't Zayne calling? All sorts of thoughts ran through his head. What if Zayne chickened out from the deal and was getting rid of the clues? The more Arata waited and thought about it, the more anxious he became. It wasn't just because of Eve, he was also afraid about his own life. Zóvux said that Arata was given a second life for the purpose of protecting the Guardians. So, what would happened if he failed and Eve got hurt, or even worse - died?

He didn't want to think what the consequences for such a failure would be.

Just then his phone rang and he answered without wasting a moment. Just the fact that Zayne was walking him again was enough for Arata to realize that their deal was still in power. He wouldn't call otherwise. Zayne was to prideful to turn down on his word, even if it would hurt him.

It definitely was going to hurt him once Arata got his hands on that cowardly bastard.

"You haven't given up, have you?" Zayne asked rather proudly.

"You should know me enough already. I won't give up until the very end!" Arata hissed. He wasn't afraid by Zayne himself, but by how his actions could affect others. "Where are we going to duel?"

A hallow chuckle came from the other side of the line after which Zayne replied. "I haven't mentioned anything about a duel. What makes you think that I would give you the chance to fight back, huh?"

"Because that's exactly why you did all of this." Arata pointed out. "You knew that the police is looking for us and yet you still went out of your way to kidnap an innocent girl and called me several times using her phone. If your goal was to just get rid of me, you could have just come to my house and shot me death instead of going through all this extra trouble!"

"And you weren't scared about your life despite knowing that?" Zayne pressed further the question. He was surprised to hear that someone wasn't actually scared to oppose him… "Fine then, you got me. We are going to meet at the old industrial zone, where the smokestacks are. You remember that place, right?"

"I do." Arata nodded.

The place wasn't far away from where he was living, in fact, the fastest route to get there would be if he took a bus back home. Although the place that Zayne was referring to wasn't an old industrial zone at all. The smokestacks were at the northwest end of the city with a small forest around them, people rarely went there if at all. The area wasn't taken care of since the nineteens, from history books Arata learned that after the government was changed at the start of the decade most of the factories were shut down and the buildings left to the mercy of nature. Because of that there wasn't even a roar that lead toward the place that Zayne told him, it really was the ideal spot.

"Very good, then I will expect you to show up in thirty minutes tops." Zayne said. "And you know how these things usually go, right? Come alone, no cops, and et cetera or I'm going to blow your bitch's brain out!"

Arata clenched his fist, listening to that no good insulting Eve was causing him to get mad for some reason. "I know that."

Arata ended the call and stood up from his spot. He had a place and a time limit, so he had to hurry up. The boy looked back at the park once more and then walked off toward the nearest bus stop, if he went to the location with a bus, then it wouldn't take him more than fifteen minutes. During the entire walk, Arata was touching the pocket of his pants, there wasn't a way for the deck to fall off, but just feeling the outline of the cards was enough to at least somewhat calm him down.

The most important thing that he had to worry about at the moment was if he would learn how to properly use the new deck without any time to train, or look up online tips. It definitely wasn't a smart idea to go there using cards he had no experience with, he could go to his house and switch decks, but something at the back of his head was telling him not to. He had to use the CodESPer in that duel for some reason.

These strange thoughts about the cards circulated through Arata's head until the bus stopped on the station one street away from his house. After he got dropped, the boy carefully tore off the top of the box and pulled out the cards from inside. He stared at the top card which was _**CodESPer-Ally Lunatic Accel**_. As a cool headed duelist, Arata never gave any sort of special attention to his cards, they were always just means to an end. Was he starting to lose his mind, if he began to care about a piece of cardboard? Maybe all of the stress that he went through in the past few days was finally catching up to him and because of that he became so much more emotional?

Arata shook his head, these thoughts were just stupid; he had to forget them! The boy put his cards into the pocket of his jacket and headed for the isolated old streets where his meeting with Zayne would take place. As he passed some old buildings, Arata noticed something from the corner of his eyes, someone with a black hoodie that hide their face was waving at him. He glanced around to make sure no one else was watching and walked over to the hooded person.

"You are Arata Godbell, right?" The hooded guy asked and raised his own phone to show a picture of Arata talking with Eve. "The boss's waiting for you inside."

Arata turned his eyes toward the rusty door that the hooded man pointed at and reached out for the handle. Turning it around, he heard a click and the door opened, letting him get inside. Arata threw the hooded person a questionable look, but he went too far to turn back at that moment. He pushed the door open and walked inside.

The warehouse he was lead into was rather empty with nothing but dirt and pieces of broken glass covering the floor, its windows were all broken as well. The building's awful state was something ordinary for abandoned areas that often become the domain for vandals and drunk teens to gather. But now there same buildings were being used for even eviler and more illegal activities, such as the one he was trying to in interfere with.

Standing at the center of the medium-sized warehouse was Zayne himself. This time he was wearing a blue jacket and pants with a yellow tie underneath and a white dress shirt – Arata quickly realized that this had to be his school uniform. Placed on a chair a few feet back from Zayne was Eve. The girl's arms and legs were tied to the chair and a makeshift gag was put around her mouth to keep her from speaking while two guys with the same uniforms as Zayne were standing beside her, guarding her.

"Heh, you certainly didn't waste any time to show up." Zayne crossed his arms and walked forward.

"I would say that it's still not too late for you to give up on this madness and let us part away on neutral terms, but I know that nothing can convince you, right?" Arata knew that his opponent's mind was fixated on the desire for victory. That was much different from Arata himself who was still unsure if the things he did were anything good.

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to enjoy beating you with my new deck!" Zayne raised his left arm, showing his Duel Disk and the deck that was already inserted inside of it.

Arata took note of that sentence, so both of them were going to be dueling against a deck previously unused by their opponent. Now, if it turned out that Zayne was as experienced with the new cards, as he was, then the duel would be more than fair, but the boy had the feeling that fate wouldn't bless him with such luck. Instead of replying with anything specific, Arata pulled out his own Duel Disk from the schoolbag and put it on, then inserted his deck inside. The device reacted and automatically shuffled his cards, after which the Extra Deck slot opened allowing the boy to put the rest of the cards he had inside of it.

"Take this." Zayne said and threw a black bracelet toward Arata. The one-eyed duelist grabbed the strange item and eyed it before turning his eye toward the kidnapper.

"What's this?" Arata asked.

"I call it a solid bracelet." Zayne said. Well, it definitely was solid no question there... "If you keep it at a close proximity to your Duel Disk, it's going to overrun the Solid Vision safety mode. It's going to be the same as when we dueled in the cell!"

"Real damage…" Arata looked down at the bracelet. He was used to dueling like that, but he wasn't sure if he could pull it in front of Eve; what would she think of him? He didn't want her to hate him, but he didn't want any harm to come to her either, so he very little of a choice. "Fine then!" He put the bracelet on his left hand.

"Good, good." Zayne chuckled. "Now, let me tell you what you are going to win or lose in this duel. If you win, I'm going to kill you, but if you lose, I'm going to kill your girlfriend instead." He turned around and gestured toward the tied girl. "In this duel you will have to choose what is more important for you bastard! You can either show how pathetic you truly are and let the bitch die, or you might try to act like a hero and lose your life for it!"

Arata narrowed his eyes, he figured out that Zayne might turn this into a duel of life or death, but what the latter didn't take into account was that Arata would be more than willing to give up his own life to save someone else's. There wasn't a choice, he was going to win the duel!

"Let's just get over with this." Arata sighed.

"Yes, let's see what you are made from!" Zayne laughed and drew his opening five cards.

 **『** **Zayne LP: 8000, Hand: 5 (VS) Arata LP: 8000, Hand: 5** **』**

"I'm going to take the first turn!" Zayne called out. "I Normal Summon _Fabled Raven (Lv.2, ATK: 1300)_!" A figure with black wings and wearing black robes appeared on Zayne's field with a grin.

Arata raised an eyebrow, did that mean that his opponent was playing a Fabled deck? From what he had seen, those cards weren't exactly a strong archetype, so why choose then over other, more powerful decks?

"Next, I discard _Fabled Lurrie_ to activate Raven's effect! For every card that I discarded my monster will gain four hundred more attack and a level!" Arata narrowed his eyes, manipulating the levels of a Tuner was indeed a very useful effect, but that wasn't everything, was it? "Next, _Fabled Lurrie_ 's effect lets me Special Summon it if it's discarded! Now I'm going to tune my Level One _Fabled Lurrie_ to my Level Three _Fabled Raven_!" A beam of light fell behind Zayne and his new monster materialized. "Synchro Summon, Level Four, _The Fabled Kudabbi (Lv.4, ATK 2200)_!"

Arata awaited for Zayne to continue with his move knowing that the duelist wasn't done. Kudabbi had a powerful effect that made it indestructible by battle or card effects, but it could only come in use if the player had zero cards in their hands. Additionally, if they had three or more cards, the monster would destroy itself, so Zayne had to get rid of his hand in order to even keep the Synchro monster in the game.

"Next, I activate the effect of _The Fabled Nozoochee (Lv.2, ATK: 1200)_ from my hand! I discard _Fabled Krus_ to Special Summon _Nozoochee and Fabled Oltro (Lv.2, ATK: 800)_!" Zero cards in hand, just like what Arata expected. "The effect of _Fabled Krus_ activates when its discarded. I revive _Fabled Lurrie (Lv.1, DEF: 400)_! Next, I tune my Level Two _The Fabled Nozoochee_ and Level One _Fabled Lurrie_ to the Level Two _Fabled Oltro_! Synchro Summon, Level Five, _Fabled Ragin (Lv.5, ATK 2300)_!"

Arata was taken aback by that monster. Why Zayne would summoned it, whenRagin's effect makes the player draw until they hold two cards in their hand? That way, he would negate the protection effect of Kudabbi! This move made Arata realize that Zayne wasn't going for the standard Fabled plays, he had something else in mind!

"When it's Synchro Summoned Ragin's effect activates, allowing me to draw until I hold two cards in my hand!" Zayne took two cards from his hand and smirked. "Heh, you are a death meat, I set a card and end my turn!"

"How long have you been using this deck?" Arata asked calmly. Leaving only one card in his hand would made Zayne's Kudabbi vulnerable to destruction so…

"I know what you are thinking." Zayne put a hand on his hips and pointed at Arata. "No need to worry, I know exactly how to use this deck. You are going to see all of that very soon!"

Arata narrowed his eyes and looked down. If Zayne didn't need his monster's protective effect, did he set that card for the purpose? The one-eyed duelist glanced at the card in his hands, if he could bait a response from Zayne's set card and then destroy his Kudabbi, it wouldn't be a bad deal. His current hand didn't seem to be having the necessary materials to summon a monster from the Extra Deck, so he would have to trust in his Main Deck monsters for the time being.

"My turn, draw!" Arata pulled the top card of his deck.

 **『** **Turn 2 [Arata] LP: 8000, Hand: 6** **』**

"Damn it." Arata cursed looking at the card that he drew - _Brain Hazard_. "I Normal Summon _**CodESPer-NPC Swift Engineer**_!" A monster in a black coat with huge purple goggles and spiky blue hair jumped onto the field holding a spanner that was two time its own size.

* * *

 **CodESPer** **-** **NPC** **Swift Engineer** **[** **LV: 3/Dark/Psychic** **/Effect/** **ATK: 800** **/DEF: 1000** **]**

 **Effect: Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can target 1 Special Summoned monster your opponent controls in face-up Attack Position; banish both that monster and this card from the field, but return them** **during** **your next Standby Phase.**

* * *

"Huh?" Zayne titled his head a bit. So it turned out that Arata had learned a few new tricks since their last duel as well. "What do you expect to do with this useless monster?"

"You are going to see soon enough." Arata muttered and took another card from his hand. "But before that, I have still something to do. Since Swift Engineer was successfully Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon _**CodESPer-Ally Jolt Jester**_ from my hand!" A monster whose body was made from yellow energy with sharp mechanical attachments in place of its arms and legs appeared on the field. Its face was hidden by a white and blue clown mask and large black bells flew behind it while it laughed maniacally.

* * *

 **CodESPer** **-** **Ally** **Jolt Jester [** **LV:** **5** **/Dark/Psychic** **/Effect/** **ATK:** **23** **00** **/DEF:** **8** **00** **]**

 **Effect: When a** **Psychic** **-Type monster is Normal Summoned to your field: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. When this attacking card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: You can pay 1000 LP; Special Summon that monster to your field in Defense Position, but it can't change its Battle Position until the end of your next turn.**

* * *

"And that one is just creepy." Zayne gulped at the sight of Arata's second monster.

"Now I'm going to show you just how useless my Engineer really is." Arata said and gestured toward his monsters. "I activate Engineer's effect to banish both itself and Fabled Ragin until my next turn!"

"Fool!" Zayne shouted back. "I didn't call it useless because of its stats, but because of the effect itself! I discard Effect Veiler from my hand to negate your Engineer's effect! Now it can no longer disappeared from my sight!"

"That was to be expected." Arata sighed. Winning against Zayne wouldn't be as easy as it was the last time, now, would it? "Jolt Jester attack Kudabbi!"

"Since I don't have any cards in my hand, your attack won't destroy my monster." Zayne pointed out and a spark of electricity shot from his bracelet, forcing him to wince in pain.

 **『** **Zayne LP: 8000 – 100** → **7900** **』**

"Heh, how was that? You thought of yourself as so great and powerful, but all you managed to do was a hundred points of damage!" Arata narrowed his eyes, he knew that Zayne was trying to anger him and force him into making mistakes, but he couldn't let that bastard play with his mind so easily, not when a human's life was on the line!

"I set a card and end my turn!" Arata finished. The _Brain Hazard_ card he set was pretty useless, but he hoped that it would be enough to scare Zayne a bit and stop him from attacking…

"You are so useless!" Zayne laughed and put a card on top of his deck. "I'm going to destroy you!"

 **『** **Turn 3 [Zayne] LP: 7900, Hand: 1** **』**

"Heh, that's going to work out." Zayne muttered and pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate my set card, _Call of the Haunted_! With its effect I'm going to Special Summon _Fabled Raven (Lv.2, ATK: 1300)_ from my Graveyard! Then I activate its effect and discard _The Fabled Cerburrel_ to raise its level by one! Next, by its own effect, _The Fabled Cerburrel (Lv.2, ATK: 1000)_ will come back to play!"

"Two tuners? You are going to Double-Synchro Summon again?" Arata asked. He never knew that Zayne could handle Synchro spamming decks so well and it worried him when he thought what sorts of powerful monsters could be waiting inside that psycho's Extra Deck.

"Exactly!" Zayne nodded and gestured toward his four monsters. "I'm going to tune the Level Five _Fabled Ragin_ to the Level Three _Fabled Raven_ , and the Level Four _The Fabled Kudabbi_ to the Level Two _The Fabled Cerburrel_!" Two beams of light shot behind Zayne as his monsters descended down onto the field. "Come forth, _Light End Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 2600)_ and _Goyo Predator (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)_!"

"That's the sort of company that I never asked for." Arata muttered, looking at the two powerful monsters that were standing before him.

"Oh, don't worry. My monsters won't have to tolerate you standing in their sight for much longer." Zayne nodded at his own words. "Come on, Light End Dragon obliterate Swift Engineer!"

"I won't be so sure, my Engineer has other plans!" Arata stated and his monster threw its spanner into the air, opening a black vortex which sucked both itself and Light End Dragon inside. "Swift Engineer just sent both of our monsters to the banished zone until my next turn!"

"I was hoping that you would do that!" Zayne chuckled and pumped his fist forward. "Goyo Predator is now going to destroy your Jolt Jester!"

The Synchro warrior threw its weapons at the psychic monster, stabbing it into the chest. The jester threw its head back and groaned in pain as its body dispersed and Arata winched in pain.

 **『** **Arata LP: 8000 – 100** → **7900** **』**

"Now, Goyo's effect will revive _CodESPer-Ally Jolt Jester (Lv.5, ATK: 2300)_ to my field!" Zayne said and as if waiting to be mentioned, Arata's monster appeared on the opponent's side. "Of course, a monster summoned by this effect can deal only half the damage, but that should be enough to make it hurt! Jolt Jester attack that weakling directly!"

The monster charged forward and swung its claws at Arata, slashing at his chest. The boy yelled out as the force of the attack threw him onto the ground and his shirt was already destroyed by the attack with a small trail of blood running down his stomach.

 **『** **Arata LP: 7900 – 1150** → **6750** **』**

"I'm going to end my turn here!" Zayne said and looked on at Arata. "Tell me, was it worth it? You used Engineer's effect on Light End instead of Goyo Predator despite knowing my monsters' abilities. If you removed Goyo Predator instead, the damage would have been one thousand and three hundred, true, but were fifty points worth more than your monster's loyalty?"

"Don't talk like you know anything about loyalty." Arata said while he slowly raised back onto his feet. It wasn't a joke, the damage was real, too real. If he took too strong of a hit, that might be the end of him! "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 4 [Arata] LP: 6750, Hand: 4** **』**

"During this turn's Standby Phase, Swift Engineer is going to return along with your monster." Both Arata's psychic monster and Zayne's dragon came out of the black vortex. "Next, I will activate _Allure of Darkness_! With this card's effect I draw two cards and banish a DARK monster from my hand!"

Arata looked at his new cards and added them to the ones that were already in his hand. Most of them like _Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light_ and _Telekinetic Power Well_ were useless at the moment. He had Serene Psychic Witch, but the best he could do with her would be a Grade 3 monster, but the only such card that he had was a supportive monster, so useless again, but he could make it work.

"I Normal Summon _Serene Psychic Witch (Lv.3, ATK: 1400)_!" A pink haired woman wearing clothes of the same color appeared on the field with two blasters in her hands. "Battle now, I attack Jolt Jester with Serene!"

"Huh?" Zayne couldn't help but wonder what Arata was up to when the two monsters clashed and Jolt Jester blasted the witch to pieces. Of course, due to Goyo Predator, the damage was halved, but still…

 **『** **Arata LP: 6750 – 450** → **6300** **』**

"When Serene is destroyed, I can banish a psychic monster with two thousand or less attack from my deck." Arata explained and took a specific card from his deck. "Then, during the next Standby Phase, if Serene is still in my graveyard that monster will be special summoned."

"So you used self-destruction in order to gather your combo-pieces? A rather pathetic attempt, honestly!" Zayne laughed it off. "Are you done now?"

"When a monster I control is destroyed by battle, the effect of **CodESPer** **-Beast Steeldefender** can be special summoned directly from my banished zone." A giant six legged boar appeared on the field with a roar. The creature had six purple eyes glowing at the front of its head; its body was black with giant spikes made from cement covering its head, back and front legs.

* * *

 **CodESPer** **-Beast Steeldefender [LV: 6/Dark/Psychic/ATK: 1400/** **DEF: 2200** **]**

 **Effect: When a monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, while this card is banished: You can Special Summon this card. When a monster on the field is destroyed by a card effect, while this card is in your Graveyard: You can return this card to the Deck, then target 1 "CodESPer" card among your banished cards; add it to the hand.**

* * *

"A mediocre wall, is that all?" Zayne asked. He was starting to get impatient.

"Now, I will banish Swift Engineer and your Goyo Guardian!" Arata continued with his move. "Afterward, I'm going to set a card and finish my turn!"

"About time." Zayne crossed his arms. "Either you had gotten much weaker since the last time, or I have grown far too strong for you to handle. Don't you feel pathetic that your first lost will be in front of someone who believes in you?"

Arata dropped his head. He knew what was on the line, that Eve's life was in his hand and that if he failed there she wouldn't forgive him. Actually, forget about her, he wouldn't be able to live with himself after such a failure.

"You don't have any words, do you?" Zayne sighed. Arata's eyes glanced at the duelist before him, why did his tone sounded like he was let down by Arata's reaction? "You are disappointing me! My turn, draw."

 **『** **Turn 5 [Zayne] LP: 7900, Hand: 1** **』**

"During this standby phase, the effect of Serene activates, come _Esper Girl (Lv.2, DEF: 300)_!" The little girl jumped on the field with a wink. "Next, Esper Girl's effect banishes the top card of my deck face-down."

"Ok, enough playing around!" Zayne put the card that he drew into his Duel Disk, activating it. "I play _Magic Planter_ to destroy my _Call of the Haunted_ and draw two new cards! I will next activate Pot of Desires to banish the top ten cards of my deck and draw yet two more cards!"

'A new hand.' Arata thought. Zayne just got himself a hand with three cards, which would mean many new combos.

"I Normal Summon _Fabled Kushano (Lv.3, ATK: 1100)_ and activate Monster Reborn to revive _The Fabled Kudabbi (Lv.4, ATK 2200)_!" Those were four monsters ready to take down Arata's field. Not good. "Then I activate Synchro Blast Wave to destroy CodESPer-Beast Steeldefender, as I obvious meet the conditions to play that spell!"

Arata's monster took a step back and its body began to break into pieces until it exploded, leaving only Esper Girl to control him from the Zayne's attacks.

"Let's end this quickly, ok?" Zayne asked. "Go, Fabled Kushano, attack Esper Girl!"

"I activate my Continuous Trap, _Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light_!" Five swords made out of light fell from the sky in front of Esper Girl. "I pay a thousand life points to negate your attack!"

"Then you are going to take the penalty!" Zayne pointed at his bracelet. Arata looked down at his own and suddenly a wave of electricity hit his body, zapping it harshly.

 **『** **Arata LP: 6300 – 1000** → **5300** **』**

"Now, my other three monsters are going to attack as well!" The three Synchros and charged at the little girl and she caved back in fear.

"I use my trap's effect to negate all of those attacks!" Arata countered and electricity ran through his body again. This time it was so strong that he couldn't do anything but scream in agony.

 **『** **Arata LP: 5300 – 1000** → **4** **300 – 1000** → **3300 – 1000** → **2300** **』**

Arata looked down and fell on his knees into the dirt. Every fiber of his being hurt so much, his muscles turned tense from the electricity. His will to finish that duel was the only thing that kept his conscious. Short gasps of escaped from Arata's throat as he looked up at Zayne, who was standing between him and Eve as an unmoving wall. He wanted to defeat that man like how he did all these previous times, but why was he unable to do so? Was there a part of him which was scared of dying for a second time?

"Something has gotten extremely wrong with you during the past few days, hasn't it?" Zayne spoke up. "Your viciousness, it's missing. That suppressed anger and hatred that drove you during all of our previous duels, it's not there anymore. It must have been that bitch's doing, right? She made you weaker!"

Arata gritted his teeth and reached down to press his hand against his chest. It wasn't that Eve changed it, but he didn't want to show his true side in front of her. He didn't want to scare her away. Nothing made him more afraid than the only person that he had in his life disappear.

"I'm going to tune the level four _Fabled Kudabbi_ to the level three _Fabled Kushano_." Zayne raised his hands and a light fell behind him, transforming into a new monster. "I Synchro Summon, _Ancient Sacred Wyvern (Lv.7, ATK: 2100)_."

Arata's eyebrows rose while he looked up at the monster that Zayne Summoned. He knew what ability it hand and taking into account the difference in their life points it scared him how powerful the dragon could get.

"I bet you are familiar with this one." Zayne gesture toward his new Synchro. "Ancient Sacred Wyvern gains attack equal to the difference in our life points while mines are higher than yours."

 **Ancient Sacred Wyvern, ATK: 2100 + 5600** → **7700**

"What are you going to do against that?" Zayne asked and gestured toward his dragon. "Are you going to waste your Engineer's banishing ability onto it? I wouldn't be surprised that you would do that given how dull your dueling senses have gotten."

"I'm not done yet!" Arata shouted and stood back up. "My dueling senses haven't gotten dull yet and I'm going to show you just how wrong you are about me! My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 6 [Arata] LP: 2300, Hand: 2** **』**

"During this Standby Phase, the effect of Engineer activates!" Arata threw his left arm to the side as both his monster and Zayne's Goyo Predator reappeared onto the field. "Now, using Esper Girl and CodESPer-NPC Swift Engineer as materials, I'm going to Transcendent Summon!"

Esper Girl transformed into an orange arrow of electricity and flew inside Swift Engineer's body. The CodESPer's body began to grow and change, transforming into a much larger monster than the original one. The new creature had long purple limbs with detonators tied to its wrists and waist. Black armor covered the monster's chest and legs while a pyramid shaped grey helmet covered its head with several cables coming out of its neck and going into the detonators.

"Come out, _**CodEPSer-Ally Detonator**_!" Arata cried out as his monster raised in front of the duelist and took two of the detonators into its hands.

* * *

 **CodESPer-** **Ally** **Detonator** **[GG:** **5** **/Dark/Psychic/** **Transcendent** **/Effect/ ATK: 2** **1** **00 /DEF: 0]**

 **2 Psychic-Type** **m** **onster** **s**

 **Effect: If this card attacks a face-up** **Special Summoned** **monster, destroy the monster with this card's effect without applying damage calculation.** **When a monster is destroyed by this effect, you can activate one of the following effects:**

 **You can use 3 of this card's Grade Gauges: This card can immediately declare a second attack.**

 **You can use 4 of this card's Grade Gauges: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the original ATK of the monster destroyed by this effect.**

* * *

"When Esper Girl leaves the field I can return the card that I banished for her effect to my hand." The card popped out of Arata's Duel Disk and he took it before continuing. "Detonator is now going to attack Light End Dragon and then its effect activates! Since Detonator battles a special summoned monster, Light End Dragon is destroyed without damage calculation!"

Zayne's monster fired a beam of light toward the psychic, but Detonator avoided the attack by jumping high into the air before throwing two detonators onto the dragon's head, blowing it up. Zayne gritted his teeth, even though it wasn't his prime playmaker, Light End Dragon was an important part of his monster line-up so for Arata to take it down so easily…

"Next I activate Detonator's secondary effect! I use four of his Grade Gauges to inflict damage to you equal to Light End's attack power!" Arata raised his Duel Disk and four of the five orbs on Detonator's card became darker in color to show that they were used up. The monster took another detonator and threw it at Zayne, causing an explosion that threw the duelist back.

 **『** **Zayne LP: 7900 – 2600** → **5300** **』**

"D-damn it!" Zayne coughed and help his side in pain. He looked up at Arata, the one-eyed duelist whom he was beating into a pulp was now standing above him like a giant. "What's this feeling?"

Zayne looked down at his hand – it was shaking. He couldn't believe it, but his body was actually scared from Arata, even though that was supposed to be his victory at last, so why was he reacting like that? Could it be that he was afraid of unleashing something horrible? No, Arata was just a bastard that had to learn his place, if he couldn't do that, then Zayne would take his life.

Arata looked down at the cards in his hand for a moment before taking two of them. He was able to put a crack in Zayne's line-up, but if his memory about the duelist that he was facing once again served, Zayne wouldn't allow himself be beaten easily. "I'm setting two cards, turn end. Because you lost Life Points, the attack of your wyvern will be reduced as well."

 **Ancient Sacred Wyvern, ATK: 7700 + 2600** → **5100**

"I'm going to destroy you for this." Zayne grunted and raised back onto his feet. "I'm going to destroy you and then force you to watch as I kill the girl!"

Arata glared at his opponent after these words. "No, you already made a mistake that will cost you everything." He clenched his fist and pushed it against his chest. "You put these conditions believing that I would rather save my own life than Eve's so winning this duel would be easier for you, but that was where you were wrong. A life filled with mistakes like mine isn't worth more than Eve's!"

Eve's stare softened, she couldn't understand why Arata would do something like that. She looked down and clenched her fists, although she shouldn't use her powers in public, she didn't want Arata to get hurt anymore. She made a choice, even if it would cost her cover, she would follow the promised to protect Godbell's son!

"You bastard!" Zayne yelled and put his hand on top of his deck. "My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 7 [Zayne] LP: 5300, Hand: 1** **』**

"Battle! Ancient Sacred Wyvern, destroy him monster and end this duel!" Eve and Arata simultaneously looked up as the white dragon opened its mouth and fired a beam of light, obliterating Detonator.

The explosion that followed after the two monsters crashed sent a powerful shockwave through the whole building, Zayne and his henchmen had to cover their faces with their hands and try hard to not get throw off by the power of the attack while all that Eve could do was to close her eyes and hope that the chair they tied her to could withstand such power. After the light died down, they could see that pieces of the ceiling and walls had fallen down as debris while Arata's whole field was covered by thick smoke.

"It's over bastard." Zayne chuckled. "You lose this duel!"

No reply came back, but the cloud of smoke began to lift from Arata's field. The one-eyed duelist was down onto his knees and breathing heavy with parts of his jacket and pants torn by the power of the attack. He looked absolutely beaten, but there was also something else that Zayne noticed about his opponent.

 **『** **Arata LP: 1300** **』**

"H-how are you still standing?" Zayne slumped down onto his knees. He threw so much into this, so watch his rival, his sworn enemy, fall into despair, but that stubborn Godbell just wouldn't stay down! He took a lot of damage, his chances to win were nearly zero, yet he was still standing!

"Right before your attack connected, I activated the trap that I set last turn - Psychic Rejuvenation." Arata pointed out as the trap card appeared beside him. "This card increases my life points by a thousand for each psychic on my field and your dragon loses attack when the difference between our life points gets smaller, so I effectively reduced three thousand points of damage to just one thousand."

"D-damn you!" Zayne slammed his fist against the ground. "I still got two powerful monsters left to attack you and there is no longer a monster that could stop them!"

"Unfortunately for you, that won't be an option." Arata sighed and stood back up. "I now activate my second trap, _**Transcended Barrier**_! This card can only activate when a transcended monster I control gets destroyed by battle, it then ends the current battle phase and lets me draw a card!"

* * *

 **Transcended Barrier (Trap) Normal**

 **Activate only when a Transcendent** **monster that you control is destroyed by battle. End the Battle Phase, the draw 1 card.**

* * *

"I can no longer attack…" Zayne clenched his fist and looked at the last card in his hand. "Fine then." He looked up at Arata and then set his card. "I'm done, come at me."

"My turn, draw!"

 **『** **Turn 8 [Arata] LP: 1300, Hand: 3** **』**

' _It's here!_ '

Arata looked at the card that he drew and closed his eyes, drawing an imaginary chain of cards that combo of which would grand him victory. Staring with the card in his hand, going through Esper Girl and then…! Yes, everything had come into place!

"This is the end!" Arata declared and played the card that he drew. "I summon _**CodESPer-Player Accel Driver**_!" A young boy with short purple hair appeared on the field wielding a sword made from electricity. Its body was covered in heavy purple armor with four silver dots in the center of its chest and a large gauntlet with shield on the left arm.

* * *

 **CodESPer-** **Player Accel Driver [LV: 4/Dark/Psychic/** **ATK: 1500** **/** **DEF: 800** **]**

 **Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower monster from your hand or Graveyard in Defense Position. You can banish this card from your Graveyard to target 1 Transcendent Monster you control; that target gains 4 Grade Gauges.**

* * *

"I activate Accel Driver's effect! I revive the level two Esper Girl from my graveyard!" Arata's monster swung its blade and slammed it into the ground, opening a vortex through which Esper Girl came back and sat down next to the boy. "Now, I use these two monsters to Transcend Summon!"

Esper Girl transformed into energy once again and was absorbed by Accel Driver, forming two energy rings around his body. "At the line between duty and madness…" Arata changed as Driver grew in size and its heavy armor was replaced by a more slender one with six purple orbs. "A legend covered in shadows shall be born." The shield disappeared from its arm and the sword transformed into a doubled bladed weapon made from the same purple energy. "Transcendent Summon! The esper that reigns supreme over the digital reality! _**CodESPer-Ally Lunatic Accel**_!" The boy's face was overtaken by dark flames after which two purple eyes and a maniacal smile formed.

* * *

 **CodESPer-Ally Lunatic Accel [GG: 6/Dark/Psychic/Transcendent/Effect/** **ATK: 2500** **/DEF: 1800]**

 **"CodESPer-Player Accel Driver" + 1 monster**

 **Effect:** **You don't need to pay LP to activate the effects of Psychic-Type monsters or cards that have "Psychic-Type" written in their card text.** **.**

 **· Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can use 2 of this card's Grade Gauges to target 1 monster in any Graveyard(s); return it to the hand.**

 **· You can use 3 of this card's Grade Gauges; Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Psychic-Type monster from your Deck or Banished Zone.**

 **· Once per turn, during either player's turn, when your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card that targets a monster that you control: You can use 4 of this card's Grade Gauges and banish 1 face-up Psychic-Type monster on your field; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card, then you can Set it to your field.**

 **· You can use 6 of this card's Grade Gauges** **and target 1 face-up Psychic-monster you control** **:** **Banish that monster and all monsters your opponent controls whose original DEF is lower that, or equal to the target's ATK on the field** **.**

* * *

"Now I activate Lunatic Accel's effect!" Arata threw his left hand forward and then clenched it into a fist. "I pay all fix of his Grade Gauges to banish my monster and all monsters you control with below two thousand and five hundred defense!"

"W-what!?" All six of the orbs on the Transcendent monster's body disappeared as a vortex appeared in the middle of the field and began to suck the monsters on both fields into itself. Zayne's creatures all roared and cried as they were overtaken by the darkness while Lunatic Accel laughed maniacally until its body disappeared along with all others.

"Now, I activate my trap, Brain Hazard!" The trap card that Arata drew on his very first turn flipped face-up. "When this card is activated I can special summon one of my removed from play Psychic-type monsters and I think you know which one I will choose! Raise once again, CodESPer-Ally Lunatic Accel!"

"That monster again…" Zayne narrowed his eyes. "It's too weak to defeat me!"

"When a Transcendent Monster is Special Summoned from the Graveyard or banished zone its Grade Gauges is zero." Arata pointed out. "But Lunatic Accel won't remain powerless for long! I banish CodESPer-Player Accel Driver from my grave to give Lunatic Accel four Grade Gauges! Now I pay three of them to activate its second effect and Special Summon a level two monster from my deck! Come out, _**CodESPer-NPC Star Priest**_!"

Three of the four glowing orbs on Lunatic Accel's body faded as the monster swung its weapon opening a blue portal through which jumped a monk wearing a white cloak with yellow lines. The new psychic monster swung the wand made of junk which it held into its left arm and sat down next to Lunatic Accel.

* * *

 **CodESPer-NPC Star Priest** **[LV:** **2** **/Dark/Psychic/ATK: 100/** **DEF:** **19** **00** **]**

 **Effect:** **While this card is in Defense Position, it can be treated as a Level 3 monster. If your Psychic-Type monster would be destroyed by battle, you can banish this card from your GY instead.**

* * *

"While Star Priest is in defense position, he can be treated as a level three monster." Arata said and pulled another card out of his Extra Deck. "Now again, I use Star Priest to Transcendent Summon! Come, out _**CodESPer-Set Storm Wings**_!" Star Priest raised its wand and the staff began to glow as the monk turned into energy and flew inside of it.

The wand then transformed into a large black backpack with several yellow lines running across its surface. The device then formed four wings on the back in an X-wing pattern, with a jet engine mounted to the end of each wing.

* * *

 **CodESPer-** **Set Storm Wings** **[GG:** **3** **/Dark/Psychic/** **Transcendent** **/Effect/** **ATK:** **8** **00** **/DEF:** **70** **0]**

 **1 Level 3 Effect Monster**

 **Effect:** **Once per turn, you can either: Target 1 monster on the field; equip this card to that target, OR: Unequip this card and Special Summon it in Attack Position. While equipped by this effect, that target gains** **8** **00 ATK** **and 700 DEF** **.** **When the equipped monster attacks, you can destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card on your opponent's side of the field.**

 **You can use** **3** **of this card's Grade Gauges** **: Target 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field; destroy that target and if a Spell/Trap Card is sent to the Graveyard when this effects resolves, inflict 800 damage to your opponent. This card cannot attack during the turn this effect is activated.**

* * *

"Now I activate Storm Wings' effect!" Arata gestured toward his 'monster'. "Once per turn, I can equip them to any monster on the field! I choose Lunatic Accel!" The backpack opened up and connected to Lunatic Accel's back after which it closed sideways, locking firmly around the monster's chest. "Due to Storm Wings' effect, Lunatic Accel gains a boost."

 **CodESPer-Ally Lunatic Accel** **, ATK: 2500 + 800** → **3300, DEF: 1800 + 700** → **2500**

"Finally, I equip Psychic Sword to Lunatic Accel, raising its attack power by two thousand!" Accel reached out with its free arm and the handle of a sword appeared in wrist. Green flames burst out of the weapon and shaped into a blade after which Arata's ace crossed its two swords in front of its chest.

 **CodESPer-Ally Lunatic Accel** **, ATK: 3300 + 2000** → **5300**

"F-fifty three hundred…" A dark realization hit Zayne, while his partners in crime watched from the side with shock written across their faces.

Eve realized it as well. Accel's attack power was 5300 and Zayne's Life Points were exactly 5300. At first that could seem as a rather meaningless coincidence, but in a fight where the duelists would suffer real damage, every single point mattered. There was no coincidence in this, it wasn't just a lucky chance. It was by design.

Arata closed his eyes and focused. He was waiting for that familiar sound to echo, one that set panic in everyone else in the room - police sirens.

He has many things, a lot of them were bad, but he wasn't an idiot. The moment Arata got that call last night, he knew that Zayne would play dirty, it was the only way to ensure victory even after he kidnapped Eve. It seemed that both of them were raised to neglect life, but unlike Arata who grew up not caring about himself, Zayne grew up neglecting the lives of everyone that was around him. The only life that he wouldn't sacrifice for his gain, and the one that he would try to preserve at all cost would be his own.

Leaving a witness who could tell the police about what happened in this abandoned building would be equal to going to the police station and surrendering yourself in. In other words, he never planned on letting either Arata or Eve alive after his twisted revenge was complete.

"Police…" As expected, Zayne panicked at the sound of sirens. It was getting closer and closer with each passing moment. "You called the police!? But my cousin works there, he should have warned me if that happened…"

"You aren't the only one with connections." Arata hissed back and pointed at Zayne. "You lost! Both this duel and that twisted game you made me play! Finish him off, Accel! _**Lunatic Slash**_!"

Lunatic Accel leaped into the air and swung his swords, bringing the blades down onto Zayne's chest. The duelist screamed, blood splashing out of his wounds, while the impact of the attack threw his body on the ground.

Arata sighed in relief and fell down on his knees. His entire body was tense from the pain that he suffered though that short duel and his head felt dizzy from the electricity that ran through him.

"Stop struggling!"

Unfortunately for him, his struggles were far from over. As Arata raised his head, he noticed Zayne's henchmen trying to drag Eve out of there; probably to use her as hostage before the police. He reached out and pressed a button on his Duel Disk, removing it from his wrist. Arata's arm unconsciously gripped the Duel Disk and he raised his arm to throw it at the bastards with the last of his strength when,

"Mhmmh!" Eve tried to mumble something, her skin glowing brightly as a pair of mechanical wings came out of her back and smacked her kidnappers in the face, knocking them on the ground. Arata's eyes widened and his mouth hang open at the sight. He wanted to say something, but he was all out of words, seeing Eve transform into a more humanoid form of Number 39: Utopia, wings, swords and everything else included.

This new form pulled her arms, tearing apart the bindings and then removed the hag that was stopping her from talking. The girl looked at the boy and then walked toward him. Arata gulped, he had the feeling that he saw something which he shouldn't have, but his body was too tired to move a muscle and his mind was occupied by so many questions that the thought of running away, or asking how Eve suddenly transformed into a monster girl was buried deep below all the other thoughts.

"It's over." There was a strange warm feeling within Arata's chest after hearing those words. Two arms wrapped around his back and Eve's body pressed against his, hugging him. "You saved me, thanks."

Saved her? From the lock of it, Eve would have been able to save herself by using that strange power of hers. But there were much more important things for him to think about at the moment, much more severe problems that he had to find a solution for.

Usually in movies when the girl gets kidnapped and the boy saves her they get to life happily, but this wasn't going to be that kind of ending. The police sirens were getting louder with each passing moment and Arata already knew that the only way he would walk out of this buildings would be with handcuffs. That was how he wanted it to be; how he deserved it. Even if his current actions were heroic, if he saved a life, it still didn't make up for the fact that he participated in illegal duels. It was his actions that caused Zayne to appear in his life, it was his actions that put Eve in harm's way.

After only a few seconds, Arata broke the hug and looked the girl in the eyes; those emotionless cold pearls of hers. That could as well be the last time that he would get to see them, see her face. He didn't want that moment to end, but it had to.

"Can you turn back into your regular appearance?" Arata asked her.

"I do." Eve nodded for confirmation. She understood why Arata asked her that, the police was coming and if they saw her in full armor with swords would make things ten times more complicated.

She closed her eyes and focused. Her body began to glow again, dispersing the armor, replacing it with her usual clothes. Once that was done, she opened her eyes and took a second look at herself before raising a thumb-up.

Arata smiled. He closed his eyes and raised his arms, soon the front door was broken down and police officers swarmed in, guns loaded. They pushed him down on the ground, holding him while putting on his handcuffs. What happened afterward, felt like a blur to him.

Eve was trying to talk to the police officers that he wasn't involved in her kidnapping; he couldn't make out what exactly she was saying, but it didn't matter either way. Even though he wasn't involved in Zayne's crimes, there were a lot of other ones on his back. This would be his way to atone for them, his way of getting rid of all the quilt and what-ifs.

He and everyone who helped Zayne were going to be put behind bars right away while Zayne himself was going to first be placed in hospital to recover from his injuries. The only worry on his mind as the policemen escorted him out of the building was Eve and how would she deal with everything now that he was gone. But as he was pushed into the police car, and took one last glimpse of the girl that caused his entire life to turn such a sudden turn, his lips raised into a slight smile at the sight of Kate. The girl was talking to Eve, he couldn't make out what she was saying, but at least he now knew that even with him gone, there was still someone who would take care of Eve in his place. She would have a friend to rely on, one that wouldn't get her dragged in their own dark past, like how he did.

* * *

 _"… He kidnapped Eve." Kate's eyes slowly widened as she processed what Arata had just told her._

 _"What!?" And as he expected, she reacted shocked, pushing him away. "Eve was kidnapped? Why!?"_

 _"It's all my fault." Arata dropped his head. "Because I was the one who dethroned Zayne, he began to think of me as his rival and would do anything to defeat me in a duel. Despite that I never thought that his obsession with me would cause him to get people that are close to me involved as well." It was his fault, he should have seen something like this happening; if he had stepped down and stopped participating in those illegal duels earlier, maybe he wouldn't have gotten that much attention from that psychopath._

 _Kate gritted her teeth and threw her hand, slapping the boy across the face with all the strength in her body. The blow knocked Arata off balance for a moment before he looked back at her, a hand over his swollen cheek._

 _"All of this is your fault." Kate hissed at him, pushing the boy backward. "I knew that you was nothing more that scum since I first lied my eyes on you. You are nothing more than a lowly criminal! What if that boy does something to Eve because of you?!"_

 _"That's what I want you to help me prevent!" Arata pleaded._

 _"Then go to the police! Turn yourself in and tell them where Zayne is so they can save Eve!" Kate slammed her fist against his chest. "If you cared even a bit about anyone other than yourself, you would have done that already!"_

 _"It's not that simple!" Arata shouted, making Kate flinch at his sudden change of attitude._

 _Kate stepped back in surprise and fear which was clearly written all over her face. Arata's change of attitude and his loud voice made her scared of the boy. A sight that didn't go unnoticed by the other party in the room._

 _As soon as he said that Arata caught himself and went silent, lowering his head in shame. Things were much more complicated than what Kate knew, Zayne had connection in the police that would alert him if Arata showed at the station to turn himself in. But a part of what she said was right. This entire situation happened due to his own selfish actions. Even when he first joined those illegal matches, he knew how dangerous it would be for him and anyone who got close to him, but he didn't care about the risks because he never thought that someone could get involved with him. He had to protect Eve, not just from her own demons, but from his as well. He didn't take any actions to prevent an outcome like this from happening and now he was paying the price for his selfishness._

 _"Then explain it." Kate spoke up, her voice soft, almost whispering._

 _"Zayne warned me that if I went to the police or called them, I'll never see Eve again." Arata replied. "If I take a single wrong step, he could do something to Eve. This is a risk that I just can't take."_

 _"So, what? You're going to just play along with his game?" Kate narrowed her eyes._

 _"No, of course not." Arata shook his head. Even if he played along, Zayne most likely wasn't going to keep his end of the bargain. "But this is something that I can't do on my own. Even though I don't have the right to say this, I need your help, Kate. You're the only person I can trust right now."_

 _Kate took a careful look at the boy. Was she really going to fall for that and trust him? But what other choice did she have? Even though she and Eve have known each other for just about a day, she had to do something to help her 'friend'. Otherwise, what better would she be than Arata?_

 _"What do you expect me to do?" Kate asked. She didn't say that she would help, only thing that she wanted was to know if Arata had any plans on how to save Eve._

 _"Zayne will tell me the location where I must meet him later today." Arata told her. "Even though he has people following me, you could still alert the police and inform them about the kidnapping. I'll give you the address as soon as I can, and I'll try to buy you as much time as possible. The only thing I ask of you is to go to the police and tell them where Zayne and I are."_

 _Kate glared at Arata but eventually nodded. "Just know, I'm doing this only for Eve. If you allow something to happen to her, I'll make the rest of your days a living hell, understood?"_

 _"You shouldn't worry about that." Arata stepped toward the windows of his classroom and looked outside. He had a cursed placed on him that caused agonizing pain to his body every night, the only person in his life was kidnapped by his worst enemy. How could Kate top the hell that he was living in?_

* * *

 **Take took a lot longer than it should have. Truth be told, 90% of the chapter was actually written somewhere during September, but then I entered a writer block with this story, which is why it took me half a year to write the final scenes of Arata's arrest and his talk with Kite. Again, I absolutely don't know how this chapter turned out, hopefully you liked it and hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes. I tried to make this chapter a bit more... emotional (?) to show how Arata feels about himself and about those around him. I mean, lately he took a lot of hits, getting killed, getting the one person that he cared about kidnapped because of his illegal activities, getting arrested for said illegal activities right after saving his girl. His life is just misery at this point.**

 **Thanks to** Zaconator and Zackis **for favoriting this story and thanks to** guicontiero **for both the favorite and the follow!**

 **That's all. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!**

 **Diabolic Tracer out!**


End file.
